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AN INTRODUCTION 



CRITICAL STUDY 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 



ATTEMPTED 



IN AN ACCOUNT OF THE PROGRESS, 



AND A SHORT NOTICE OF THE SOURCES, OF THE HISTORY 



OF THE CHURCH. 



V 

JOHN GOULTER DOWLING, M.A. 

OF WADHAM COLLEGE, OXFORD, 
RECTOR OF ST. MARY- DE-CRYPT, GLOUCESTER. 



LONDON: 

PRINTED FOR J. G. & F. RIVINGTON, 

st. paul's church yard, 
and waterloo place, pall mall. 

1838. 



LONDON: 

gilbert & rivington, printers, 
st. John's square. 



.>?> 



«v 



TO 



THE REVEREND S. R. MAITLAND, 



LIBRARIAN TO THE LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, AND 



KEEPER OF HIS GRACE S MANUSCRIPTS AT LAMBETH, 



AS A TRIBUTE OF 



RESPECT AND FRIENDSHIP, 



THE FOLLOWING PAGES 



ARE INSCRIBED. 



A 2 



PREFACE. 



It can scarcely be necessary to apologize to the 
English public for the appearance of a single 
volume, on a subject which has in Germany already 
been treated in several works. Since the publica- 
tion of the Introduction to Ecclesiastical History 
by Sagittarius and Schmid in the beginning of the 
last century, Schrockh in the first volume of his 
Church-history, and C. W. F. Walch, Royko, 
Pfrogner, Fliigge, and Staudlin, in separate works, 
have laboured to extend an acquaintance with this 
branch of knowledge, and have rendered the literary 
history of Church-history familiar to their country- 
men. In the mean time no work of the kind has 
been undertaken among ourselves. The " Brief 
Account of the Ecclesiastical Historians," which 
appeared in the British Magazine between August 



VI PREFACE. 

1837 and April 1838, was, it is believed, the first 
attempt to treat the subject in our own language. 
The present work is for the most part an expanded 
and systematic view of the information originally 
collected for that essay. And the author trusts, 
that a year of research and reflection has enabled 
him to make it more worthy of the attention of 
such as feel an interest in Ecclesiastical and His- 
torical studies. 

The work requires not a long preface. The Title 
explains its object, and the Table of Contents 
affords an analysis of the matter. It may be proper 
to remark, that it was projected, and in part exe- 
cuted, before the Writer had become acquainted 
with the works of the German scholars to whom 
he has referred ; and that his views, as well as the 
plan of his book, differ in very many important 
particulars from those of the continental writers. 
There are two other points only, on which he feels 
it necessary to say any thing in the way of explana- 
tion ; namely, the nature of the divisions, and the 
extent of the notes. 

The three periods of ancient, mediaeval, and mo- 



PREFACE. VU 

dern Church-history, are each treated in a separate 
chapter. It may perhaps be thought that it was 
unnecessary to carry the principle of division any 
farther. But the author is deeply impressed with 
a conviction that the greatest mischief has been 
caused in all subjects of this nature by the employ- 
ment of loose and artificial, instead of precise and 
natural divisions, and he has gladly embraced an 
opportunity of contributing to make the student 
familiar with the principal eras of Church-history. 
In the first two chapters he has availed himself of 
eras w T hich have often been used by others. In the 
third chapter his subject itself suggested the divi- 
sions. The first period of modern Church-history 
terminates with the appearance of Mabillon in 
1667 ; and the second with the conclusion of the 
age of Louis XIV. in 1715. The third period is 
probably not yet completed. 

The frequent notes and copious extracts may 
perhaps expose the work to the charge of pedantry 
and ostentation. A popular view of the subject 
might, no doubt, have been given almost without 
notes ; and much- space might have been saved by 
giving references instead of extracts. The author, 



Vlll PREFACE. 

however, believes that such a course would have 
been far less satisfactory than that which he has 
adopted. It has been his object to put the junior 
student as much as possible in possession of the 
process by which he has arrived at the conclusions' 
stated in the text ; and to furnish the scholar, who 
may think it worth while to peruse his book, with a 
kind of information which he will justly regard as 
possessing much higher value than the private 
speculations of a modern writer. 

It is only necessary to add, that the Fourth Chap- 
ter (on the Sources of Ecclesiastical History) 
appears here in very much the same form as that in 
which it was originally published in the British 
Magazine in June, July, and August of the present 
year. 

Southgate Street, Gloucester, 
August 2, 1838. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction . . 1 

CHAPTER I. 

THE PROGRESS OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY FROM THE TIME 
OF THE APOSTLES TO THE COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON. 

SECTION I. 
TO THE COUNCIL OF NICE, A.D. 325. 

The Primitive Christians — Hegesippus — Julius Africanus— 
Sources of early Church-history — Eusebius 7 



SECTION II. 

FROM THE COUNCIL OF NICE, A.D. 325, TO THE COUNCIL OF 
CHALCEDON, A.D. 451. 

The Fathers of the fourth century — St. Jerome — Rufinus — 
Gelasius of Csesarea — Sulpicius Severus — Paulus Orosius — 
Philip of Sida — Philostorgius — Socrates — Sozomen — 

Theodoret 19 

b 



x CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER II. 

THE PROGRESS OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY FROM THE COUN- 
CIL OF CHALCEDON TO THE REFORMATION. 

SECTION I. 

FROM THE COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON, A.D. 451, TO THE PON- 
TIFICATE OF GREGORY THE GREAT, A.D. 590. 

PAGE 

Commencement of the Middle Ages — Condition of the East and 
West compared — Influence of the Controversies of the fifth 
century on Church-history — Hesychius — Joannes iEgeates 
— Basilius Cilix — Theodorus Lector — Zacharias Rhetor — 
Evagrius — The Tripartite History — Liberatus Diaconus — 
The Chroniclers 37 

SECTION II. 

FROM THE PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY THE GREAT, A.D. 590, 
TO THE DEATH OF CHARLEMAGNE, A.D. 814. 

The Condition of History in the Middle Ages — St. Gregory of 
Tours — St. Isidore of Seville — The Venerable Bede — Paulus 
Diaconus — The Iron Age of Byzantine literature — Joannes 
Malelas — The Paschal Chronicle — Georgius SyncelluS' — 
Theophanes — Nicephorus 55 

SECTION III. 

FROM THE DEATH OF CHARLEMAGNE, A.D. 814, TO THE PON- 
TIFICATE OF INNOCENT III. A.D. 1198. 

Neglect of the Distinction between Civil and Ecclesiastical His- 
tory — Refinement of the age of Charlemagne — Haymo of 
Halberstadt — Anastasius Bibliothecarius — Flodoard — Adam 
of Bremen — Sigebert of Gemblours— Ordericus Vitalis — Re- 
vival of literature in the Eastern Empire — Georgius Hamar- 
tolus — Historians of the age of Photius — Simeon Metaphras- 
tes — Georgius Cedrenus —Joannes Zonaras — Eutychius — 
Abulpharagius . 72 



CONTENTS. 



SECTION IV. 

FROM THE -PONTIFICATE OF INNOCENT III. A.D. 1198, TO THE 
REFORMATION, A.D. 1517. 

PAGE 

March of Intellect — Scholasticism — Nicephorus Callisti — Bar- 
tholomew of Lucca — Antoninus of Florence — The Revival of 
Classical Literature — Lauren tius Valla — Platina — Trithemius 
— Albert Krantz — The Harbingers of the Reformation . . 89 



CHAPTER III. 



THE PROGRESS OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY FROM THE RE- 
FORMATION TO THE PRESENT TIME. 

SECTION I. 
FROM A.D. 1517 TO A.D. 1667. 

Effects of the Reformation — M. F. Illyricus — Catalogus TeS- 
tium — Magdeburg Centuries — Baronius — Effects of the Cen- 
turies and the Annals — Osiander — Bzovius — Spondanus — 
Raynaldus — Epitomists of Baronius — Godeau — Hottinger 103 

SECTION II. 
FROM A.D. 1667 TO A.D. 1715. 

Advancement of Ecclesiastical learning — Benedictines of St. 
Maur — Mabillon — Rise of the Gallican School of Church- 
history — Maimbourg — Natalis Alexander — Du Pin — Pagi — 
Tillemont — Fleury — Anglican School of Church-history — 
Cave — Decline of Ecclesiastical learning in England — Bing- 
ham — Le Sueur — F. Spanheim — Revocation of the edict of 
Nantes — J. Basnage — S. Basnage — Condition of Ecclesias- 
tical literature in Germany — improved towards the end of the 
seventeenth century— Arnold — Thomasius — Le Clerc — Es- 
timate of the progress of Church-history during this period . 140 

8 



xii CONTENTS. 

SECTION HI. 

FROM A.D. 1715 TO THE PRESENT TIME. 

PAGE 

New Condition of Literature — Decline of the Gallican school of 
Church-history — Efforts of the Italian Scholars — French 
Protestants — Progress of Church-history in Germany — Weis- 
mann — Mosheim — State of Ecclesiastical learning in England 
— New German School — Semler — Schrockh — The Rational- 
ists — Henke — J. E. C. Schmidt — German Roman -Catholic 
Writers — Present State of Ecclesiastical History in Germany 
— in England — Hopes and Prospects 179 

CHAPTER IV. 

ON THE SOURCES OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Importance of the study of the sources of Church-history — Pri- 
vate Sources, or Testimony — Public Sources, furnished by 
documents and monuments 213 



Appendix 245 

Bibliographical Index of the Writers of Ecclesiastical 

History from the Reformation to the present time . . . 291 

Index 309 



INTRODUCTION. 



Church-history, or Ecclesiastical history, is, as the 
name itself implies, the history of that spiritual 
society founded by Jesus Christ, " in which the pure 
word of God is preached, and the sacraments are 
duly administered according to Christ's ordinance ;" 
and which, in conformity with the Saviour's promise, 
must exist till the end of the world. The name, 
however, has often been made to bear a much 
wider meaning. It has sometimes been so applied 
as to include God's dealings with his people under 
the Old Testament, as well as the New : and, in its 
common application, it is understood to comprehend 
the history of heretical and schismatical communi- 
ties as well as that" of the Orthodox and Catholic 
Church. When the idea to be expressed is thus 
extended, it would undoubtedly be more correct 
and scientific to use, as the case might require, the 
terms, " history of revealed Religion," and " history 

B 



2 INTRODUCTION. 

of Christianity." But the name Church-history 
seems to have obtained a fixed and definite meaning. 
It has long become the common practice to describe 
the history of Christianity as the history of the 
Church. 

The great importance of this branch of history 
is obvious. The progress of a system which, like 
Christianity, has exercised from its very first ap- 
pearance an immense influence on the social and 
intellectual condition of mankind, has the strongest 
claims on the attention of every class of thinking 
men. An acquaintance with the facts of Eccle- 
siastical history is as indispensably necessary to the 
statesman and the philosopher as it is to the pro- 
fessional divine ; and the private Christian can 
never peruse its lessons without finding abundant 
matter for his instruction 1 and comfort. It can 
never be cultivated in a right spirit without greatly 
tending to encourage sound doctrine and holiness. 
Whenever it has been neglected, the consequence 
has uniformly been a melancholy increase of dis- 
order and error. 

The rise and progress of Church-history,' and its 

1 Cum res Ecclesiasticas referant, et vicissitudines accedentes 
per tempora diversa describant, necesse est ut sensus legentium 
rebus ccelestibus semper erudiant, quando nihil ad fortuitos 
casus, nihil ad eorum potestates infirmas, ut Gentiles fecerunt, et 
arbitrio Creatoris applicare veraeiter universa contendant. Cas- 
siodor. Instit. Divin. Lect. cap. xvii. ap. Bibl. PP. torn. vi. 
col. 67. B. edit. 1575. 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

condition in different periods, are therefore subjects 
which well deserve our notice, and are not unworthy 
of being treated in a separate work. 

From a very early period the business of recording 
the fortunes of the Church has exercised the in- 
dustry of the Christian writers. They felt it to be 
a weighty duty to hand down to posterity an ac- 
count of God's dealings with His people, and to 
perpetuate the memory of the dangers and triumphs 
of the faith. Since the work was first begun, the 
succession of the Ecclesiastical historians has scarcely 
been interrupted. One writer has come forward 
after another with a regularity which we cannot but 
esteem providential : and though time has not been 
altogether inactive in its work of destruction, we 
still happily possess most of the important works 
which have ever been written on Ecclesiastical 
history. As it might have been expected, in different 
ages the subject has been treated with different 
views and on different principles ; and the various 
writers differ exceedingly in their talents and quali- 
fications. But nearly all have contributed something; 
and many of the works which possess least value as 
authorities, deserve to be noticed as exhibiting the 
progress and condition of this branch of literature. 

The writers who have composed works on Eccle- 
siastical history have either undertaken to illus- 
trate the whole subject, or confined themselves to 
particular churches, transactions, or periods. But 
the importance of a work is not determined by its 

b 2 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

extent. A small treatise, or even a fragment, lias 
sometimes possessed more intrinsic merit, and pro- 
duced more important consequences, than much 
larger works which have been completed with all 
their authors' industry and skill. While, therefore, 
it will be my object to give the first attention to 
the works which have been written on the general 
history of the Church, I shall make it my business 
not to omit to notice those written on particular 
branches of the subject, which possess any unusual 
interest, or have had any considerable effect on the 
cultivation of Church-history. 

The first and most natural division of my subject 
is that which is suggested by the order of time. 
The writers to be mentioned may conveniently be 
regarded as belonging respectively to the ancient, 
the middle, and modern periods of history. I hope 
to notice all the works which were composed ex- 
pressly on the subject of Church-history during the 
two first of these periods : I shall be satisfied with 
noticing the more extensive, the more able, and the 
more influential 1 which have appeared since the 
Reformation. It would be below the dignity of 
literary history to descend to that minuteness of 

1 I should be sorry, however, to have it supposed that I 
disallow the merit of all the writers whom I do not mention. I 
would say with Quinctilian, Paucos, qui sunt eminentissimi, ex- 
cerpere in animo est; facile est autem studiosis, qui sint his 
simillimi, judicare : ne quisquam queratur, omissos forte aliquos 
eorum, quos ipse valde probe t. 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

enumeration which is expected only in a biblio- 
graphical work. A few original writers have sup- 
plied the materials of the almost innumerable 
compilations which encumber the shelves of exten- 
sive libraries. The nature of my present under- 
taking, while it demands a complete review of the 
labours of the distinguished men who have written 
works of acknowledged importance, does not require 
that I should often disturb the obscurity of those 
more humble writers who have as frequently con- 
tributed to perpetuate ignorance, as to diffuse real 
knowledge. 



CHAPTER I. 



FROM THE TIME OF THE APOSTLES TO THE COUNCIL 
OF CHALCEDON. 



SECTION I. 

TO THE COUNCIL OF NICE, 325. 

THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANS HEGESIPPUS JULIUS AFRICANUS 

EUSEBIUS. 

I leave to the Biblical critic the historical books 
of the sacred volume. The respect due to the in- 
spired writings which form the canon of the New 
Testament, forbids my classing them with human 
records. I merely observe that the Gospels, the 
Acts of the Apostles, and the Apostolical Epistles, 
afford ample and infallible information respecting 
the life and death of the Saviour, and the planting 
of the Christian Church ; and at once pass on to 
the legitimate objects of the present inquiry. 

The genius and circumstances of primitive Chris- 
tianity were alike adverse to the production of any 



8 HEGESIPPUS. [Chap. 

very early history of the Church. Dead to the world, 
and engaged by the active duties and exercises of 
their holy calling, the first Christians were little 
likely to be under the influence of the mixed feel- 
ings, which usually originate literary undertakings ; 
and insecurity and persecution were little favourable 
to composition and study. A season of action and 
of suffering was no time for the pursuits of litera- 
ture. All they wrote was strictly of a moral nature. 
In the inspired writings of the New Testament, which 
were gradually communicated to all the Churches, 
they had a sufficient account of the origin and first 
establishment of the faith. In the eye of Christian 
humility, their own labours and sufferings were 
scarcely worth recording. The succession of the 
Bishops, and the acts of the Martyrs were at all 
events sufficient to establish their catholicity, and 
enliven their Christian courage. Their brief creeds 
were easily retained in the memory ; and their cause 
was pleaded before the world by the converted 
philosophers and advocates, who were but too happy 
to employ in the service of the Church the acute- 
ness and eloquence which they had learned to 
practise in the schools and the forum. 

The latter part of the second century, however, 
produced a writer who is generally considered as 
the first historian of the Church. Hegesippus 1 , 

1 Hegesippus, vicinus Apostolicorum temporum, omnes a 
passione Domini, usque ad suam aetatem, Ecclesiasticorum 
actuum texens historias, multaque ad utilitatem legentium per- 



I.] JULIUS AFRICANUS. 9 

who appears to have flourished about A.D. 170 *, 
" recorded in five books an unsophisticated account 
of the apostolical preaching in a very simple style 2 ." 
A few fragments 3 only of his work have come down 
to us ; and these, however interesting and valuable, 
throw no light on the form and method of the work 
to which they belonged. The chronicle of Julius 
Africanus 4 also, which was written towards the 
beginning of the third century, seems to have par- 
taken of the nature of a Church-history. But it no 

tinentia hinc inde congregans, quinque libros composuit sermone 
simplici : ut quorum vitam sectabatur, dicendi quoque expri- 
meret characterem. S. Hieron. de Script. Eccles. cap. 22. But 
Jerome seems to have known nothing of Hegesippus but what 
he learned from Eusebius. 

1 Fabr. Bibl. Graec. torn. v. p. 188. Lardner's Credibility, 
pt. ii. ch. xiv. Works,, vol. ii. p. 141. ed. 1788. 

2 'Ev tovtoiq eyviopi^ero 'Hyrjannrog, ov 7r\eiaraig »/<fy icporEpov 
Kt^pr][j.e6a (pwvcug' <bg av ek ttjq avrou Trapaboaaioc rtva tmv Kara 
tovq 'AttocttoXovq 7rapariBijievoi. kv ttevte brj ovv avyypajifiaaiv 
ovTOQ, tyjv cnrXavrj Tcapaboaiv tov ' ' AnoaTokiKov Krjpvy fjLa.ro g aVXov- 
aTarYf avvTci^Ei ypatyrjg v7rofj.rr]fJLaTL(TafjL£voQ. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. 
lib. iv. c. 8. p. 150. Edit. Reading. 

3 These fragments are enumerated by Cave, (Hist. Lit. an. 
170) and have been collected by Grabe, (Spicil. torn. ii. p. 
205—213) Gallandius, (Bibl. PP. torn, ii.) and Dr. Routh, 
Reliq. Sacr. torn. i. 

4 Tov b* avTod 'AcbpiKavov /ecu aWa rbv apidpibv ttevte %povo- 
ypatyt&v r)\6ev etc; rjfiag ett axpiflEQ TrETrovrjfiiva (nrovddarfiaTa. 
Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. cap. 31. p. 295. Julius Africanus, 
cujus quinque de temporibus exstant volumina. S. Hieron. de 
Script. Eccles. cap. 63. 



10 JULIUS AFRICANUS. [Chap. 

longer exists entire * ; and it is not easy to detect 
the portions 2 of it which appear to have been in- 
serted in the compilations of later annalists 3 . 

From this period, the materials of Ecclesiastical 
history are abundant. Irenseus, Tertullian, Origen, 
Cyprian, and several other Christian writers, throw 
much light on the condition of the Church in those 
early times. But with the exception of the two 
authors whom I have mentioned, no one appears to 
have treated the subject in a separate work. For the 
chronicle of Judas 4 , which we know only by name, 

1 It was read by Photius, who thus describes the author : 
"Eort Se gvvtohoq /jlev, aXXa fjLtjdev Thtv avayKaitav iaroprjdfjvai 
7rapa\i fjnrdviov. ap^erai tie and Trjg Miotra'iKrjg Koa^xoyoviag^ Kal 
Kareioriv kiog t?jq XpiffTOv irapovaiag' EiriTpoyd^riv de EiaXafA^dyEL 
Kal to. citto Xpiarov jXEyjpl Trjg Ma/cptVov tov 'PiOfxaiwv (jaaiXiug 
fiaffiXelag. Bibl. Cod. xxxiv. p. 9. ed. 1601. 

2 Cave, Hist. Lit. an. 220 ; Lardner's Credibility, pt. ii. ch. 
xxxvii. Works, vol. ii. p. 435 ; Galland. Bibl. PP. torn. ii. 
Routh, torn. ii. 

3 Ex illo licet hodie deperdito multa Eusebius in suo Chro- 
nico et Syncellus, Jo. Malala, Theophanes, Cedrenus aliique 
Chronologi, atque in his auctor Chronici Paschalis quod Alex- 
andrinum vulgo vocant, turn latino-barbarus scriptor excerptorum 
utilissimorum ex Eusebio, Africano, et aliis, quae Scaliger edidit 
ad calcem Chronici Hieronymiani, p. 58 sq. Fabr. Bibl. Graec. 
v. 269. 

4 'lovdag avyypa^iiov erapog, elg Tag napd ra AavirjX efido- 
fjLriKovra e^ojJ.a^ag kyypdqxog diaXexQ^Qj knl to ZeicaTOv Tfjg 
Zeprjpov fiaffiXeiag 'iffTrjm rriv ^povoypa^iav^ og Kal rrjv GpvXXov- 
jJLevrjv tov 'AvTiXpiOTOv Tvapovoiav i'lSr) tote 7rXrj<nd£Eii> veto" 



I.] EUSEBIUS. 1 1 

was most probably confined to chronology ; and the 
Clementine Recognitions 1 belong rather to the 
class of apocryphal writings which we owe for the 
most part to the perverse industry of the early 
heretics, than to authentic history. 

The instances, therefore, supplied by the first 
three centuries can scarcely be regarded as inva- 
lidating the claim 2 of Eusebius of Csesarea to be 



)we r/ tou Ka6' f][iu>v tots tWy/zov Kivrjcrig, rag twi> 
iroWtiv avtrerapax^ foavaiag* Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. 
cap. 7. p. 264. This brief notice is followed by Jerome, (de 
Script. Eccles. cap. 52.) and Nicephorus Callisti. Eccles. Hist, 
lib. iv. cap. 35. torn. i. p. 335. 

1 It may seem to be unnecessary to allude to this work at all. 
I do so merely because it appears to be referred to by Sozomen 
in the following passage of the procemium to his Eccles. Hist. 
"AWoi Tuvrrfg E7T£tpa.dr)(7ap fts'xP 4 T ^ v Kai? a vTOvg xporuv, RA^/xrje 
te Kal 'H.yri<TL7r7rog i avdpsg crotywraTOi, rrf twv 'AttootoXwv 3iaSo')(rj 
TrapaKo\ovd{)(ravTt.g, Kal 'Atypucavog 6 avyypatyevg, koX JLvaifiiog o 
iiziK\r]v TIafityiXov. p. 9. Upon which Valesius observes : 
Sozomenus hoc loco agit de his scriptoribus, qui res in exordio 
Ecclesiae gestas commemorarunt, inter quos primum omnium 
recenset Clementem. Romanum igitur intelligit, qui libros 
Recognitionum scripsit, quos a Rufino translatos habemus. 
ad loc. 

2 It is thus stated by himself : 'Avay/ccudrarct S£ juot iroveioBca. 
tyiv vttoQegiv yyovfiai, ore firj^iva 7rw slg ^Evpo tCjv EKKXrjfftaariKwv 
avyypcKpiiov Btiyviov TTEpi tovto rfjg ypatyfjg airov^riv 7TE7roirjfXEPOv 
to fxipog. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. 1. p. 3. And Nicephorus 
Callisti, in his Ecclesiastical History, says of him ; Tlpiorog 

OVTOg Ttj flETCL X El P a Q VKoQeGEI ETTzfiakEV' EKKXrjaiaCTTLKflV [(TTOpiaP 

nptiTog ovofxdaag ty/v filfiXov. Lib. vi. cap. 37« p. 436. We 
may therefore allow with Fabricius : Quanquam vero Hegesippus, 

8 



12 EUSEBIUS. [Chap. 

considered as the father of Ecclesiastical history. 
This learned and industrious writer, who, according 
to the conjecture of Cave, was born in 270, and 
who appears to have written the work for which he 
is most distinguished in 324 \ was, in various ways, 
eminently qualified to be the historian of the early 
Church. His friendship with the learned and ac- 
complished Pamphilus, his residence at Csesarea, 
which possessed a library 2 rich in the works of 
the Christian writers ; his extensive and intimate 
acquaintance with profane learning, an inquisitive 
mind, and the free access which by the favour of 
his sovereign he enjoyed to the public archives 3 of 
the empire, all conspired to fit him to undertake the 
office which he assumed, and to discharge its duties 
to the advantage of mankind. The very peculia- 

et Africanus, quodam modo Eusebio praeiverant, Papias quoque 
et Justinus ac Clemens Alexandrinus, Irenaeus, aliique varia in 
scriptis suis annotaverant, quae ad historian! Ecclesise et 
haeresium facerent, justum tamen Ecclesiastical historiae corpus 
nemo ante Eusebium condidit, unde merito ait, se irpwrov rrj 
vtvoQeoei e7ri(3rj(Tai, primum aggressum esse hoc argumentum. 
Bibl. Graec. vol. vi. p. 59. 

1 The common opinion is that it was written in 326, the year 
after the council of Nice. The most powerful advocate of the 
date which I have adopted is Hankius (De Byzantinarum Re- 
rum Scriptoribus, pp. 101 — 113). The objections to the early 
date are capable of being answered : but the absence of every 
thing like allusion to the Arian controversy forms an objection 
to the later date which really appears insuperable. 

2 Eccles. Hist. lib. vi. cap. 20. 

3 Appendix, Note A. 



I.] EUSEBIUS. 13 

rities of his character, which led him to perform a 
part in active life which it is not easy to justify or 
excuse, tended, perhaps, to render him a more 
satisfactory historian. The impartiality which 
some have affected, and others have despised, was 
natural to Eusebius. He seems to have been one 
of those, and they are a numerous class, who can 
never make up their minds strongly enough on any 
subject to be partial. He was too amiable to be 
willing to compromise himself with either of the 
two great parties of his time. He was too much 
engrossed by his own pursuits, and, in fact, too 
little interested about the matters in dispute, boldly 
to take a side. Though his connections, and per- 
haps his inclinations, drew him towards the Arians, 
he appears to have been as little disposed to join 
them in their excesses when they were in power, as 
he was reluctant to persecute them when they were 
in adversity. His conduct only resolved the enigma 
of his principles ; for the modern controversies ! 
respecting his opinions seem merely to have deter- 
mined that he did not altogether belong to the 
heretics or to the orthodox. 

Eusebius undertook the work of recording the 
early fortunes of the Church, just at the time when 
it could not be neglected in safety. We have, pro- 
bably, no great cause to regret that it was not 
attempted before ; but we have undoubtedly great 

1 Walchii Bibliotheca Patristica, edit. Danz. p. 48. 



14 EUSEBIUS. [Chap. 

reason to rejoice that it was delayed no longer. 
The conversion of Constantine at once placed Chris- 
tianity in a completely new position ; and in a sur- 
prisingly short space of time, every thing relating 
to it was regarded with different views and feelings. 
Among other changes, the altered state of things 
led to such a rapid development of the spirit of 
speculation, that the Church could no longer trans- 
mit or teach the truth in the way she had done. 
It was now to be defended, and illustrated, and ex- 
plained. It became matter of system and theory, 
and was discoursed of by men who, for genius, and 
eloquence, and learning, would well bear com- 
parison with the brightest ornaments of classical 
antiquity. No one educated under these new cir- 
cumstances l of Christianity could have been a fit 
historian of the early Church. But Eusebius had 
grown up under a different discipline. By birth 
and education he belonged to the third century. He 
had studied when there was nothing to study but 
what led him to antiquity. Accordingly, his learning 
was of an antiquarian rather than of a doctrinal 
character, — it was historical, not theoretical or dog- 
matical. His taste was formed before the passion 
for a scientific treatment of theology had shown 
itself in the Church. His pursuits and acquire- 

1 It may be added, that many of the documents which were 
extant at the beginning of the fourth century soon perished. 
They would naturally disappear when no interest was felt about 
them. 



I.] EUSEBIUS. 15 

merits, therefore, fitted him for the work which he 
happily undertook, as much as his impartiality: 
and the way in which he executed it, has entitled 
him to everlasting gratitude. 

We cannot be too thankful that Eusebius an- 
ticipated, by a happy instinct, the subjects which 
would be most interesting to posterity in the first 
regular work on Church - history *. He made it 
his chief business to trace the succession of the 
bishops of the principal sees, to point out the lite- 
rary exertions of the Christian writers, to describe 
the rise and progress of heresies, and to record the 
successes and persecutions of the Church 2 . His 
object seems to have been twofold, namely, to show 
the providential nature of the triumph which the 
Gospel obtained over its external and internal 
enemies, and to vindicate its professors from the 
charge of illiterate ignorance. He well knew what 
is required of the historian. He had recourse to 

1 ''EicKXrjaiaaTiicfJQ 'Icrroplag B//3\m ^efca. First edited with 
the other Greek Ecclesiastical historians, Socrates, Theodoret, 
Sozomen, and Evagrius, by Robert Stephens, Paris, 1544. But 
the earlier editions (Fabr. Bibl. Grsec. vi. 60, et seq.) were com- 
pletely superseded by that of Henri Valois, which was first printed 
at Paris in 1659 — 1673, and with improvements in 1677. There 
have been four or five reprints ; of which the Cambridge 
(Reading's) is the most convenient and most elegant. These 
are all in folio. More recently Eusebius has been edited in 8vo. 
by Stroth (Hal. 1779), Zimmermann (Francof. ad M. 1822) 
and Heinichen (Lips. 1827 — 30). 

2 Appendix, Note B. 



16 EUSEBIUS. [Chap. 

the most satisfactory sources of information *. He 
eagerly availed himself of private testimony, he 
diligently consulted public documents, and he esti- 
mated the value of his authorities of every kind 
with considerable sagacity and judgment. He did 
not forget that he was the historian of a sacred 
subject. He does not neglect to recognize from 
time to time the finger of God ordering and direct- 
ing the various events of his narrative, nor to lead 
his readers to a devout acknowledgment of the 
Divine wisdom and mercy. His work is just the 
sort of history that was wanted. We may com- 
plain that it is sometimes too brief to satisfy a rea- 
sonable curiosity, that it is not well arranged, that 
it is not written in a pleasing or lucid style, that 
it is not altogether free from credulity and super- 
stition ; but we cannot complain that the author 
had not a right conception of what he had to do. 
Never was a work of the kind more abundant, in 
proportion to its size, in extracts and documents. 

1 Much has been written in Germany within the last five-and- 
twenty years on the value of Eusebius as a historian. The 
following works are enumerated by Dr. Danz in his edition of 
Walch's Bibliotheca Patristica, p. 49 : — Moller de Fide Eusebii 
in rebus Christian, enarrandis, Havn. 1813 ; Danz. de Eusebio 
Csesar. Hist. Eccles. Scriptore ejusque Fide historica recte sesti- 
manda, Jen. 1815 ; Kestner Comment, de Eusebii auctoritate 
et fide diplomatica, Gotting. 1817 ; Kestner iiber die Einseitig- 
keit und Partheilichkeit des Eusebius, als Geschichtschreiber, 
Jen. 1819; Reuterdahl de Fontibus Hist. Eccles. Eusebii, 
Londini Gothor. 1826. See Appendix, Note C. 



I ] EUSEBIUS. 17 

He has handed down an account of the labours ' of 
writers, of whose very names we should otherwise 
have been ignorant 2 . In a word, he established 
the early Christian history upon the most satisfac- 
tory foundation ; and set an example of diligence 
and accuracy, which have never been surpassed, 
and rarely equalled by his successors 3 . 

Before he commenced his Ecclesiastical History, 
Eusebius published his " Chronicle," and a short 
time before his death, which happened in the year 
340, he wrote the "Life of Constantine." These 
are both of them important works. The former 4 

1 "Oaa Tolvvv elq Tr)v 7rpoK£i^LEvr]v vnodefftv XvaiTeXrjaeiv fiyov- 
fjieda t&v avroiQ ekeivolq airopd^r}v \x.vr\ fiovevQivroiv avaXe^dfJievoij 
Kal ojg av ek XoyiK&v Xsifjubviov rag E7rirrj^£iovg avrdiv rCiv izdXai 
ovyypacpiiov a.7ravdr)<rdfiEvoi (JHovag, fit v(j)r}y{]ffEU)Q laTopucrjg ttel- 
paaofieda croj/jiaTOTroLfjaai. Lib. i. cap. i. p. 2. 

2 The fragments of ancient Christian writers, which have 
been preserved by Eusebius, compose the most valuable part of 
the interesting work of Dr. Routh. A catalogue of the writers 
who are mentioned in the Eccles. Hist, is given by Fabricius, 
Bibl. Grsec. vi. 63—90. 

3 Appendix, Note D. 

4 The original text of the Chronicon (Ilayro£a7rr/ laropia) has 
perished. But St, Jerome's translation, with the numerous 
fragments preserved by the Byzantine annalists, was published 
by Jos. Scaliger in his Thesaurus Temporum, Lugd.'Bat. 1606 ; 
Amstel. 1658. See Fabr." Bibl. Greec. vi. 33—36. Since that 
time the following important works have appeared : — Hieronymi 
de Prato Dissert, de Chronicis Libris II. ab Eusebio Caesar. 

'scriptis. Veron. 1750, 8vo ; Eusebii Pamphili Chronicorum 
Canonum Libri II. Opus ex Haicano codice a Jo. Zohrabo dili- 
genter expressum et castigatum A. Maius et Jo. Zohrabus nunc 

C 



18 EUSEBIUS. [Chap. 

serves to illustrate many interesting points of early 
Church-history ; and the latter \ though it must be 
regarded as a laboured panegyric rather than as a 
sober record of historical facts, affords several im- 
portant documents and much valuable information 
relating to the most memorable event which has 
occurred in the history of Christianity ; its public 
establishment as the religion of the Roman 
Empire. 

primum conjunctis curis Latinitate donatum notisque illustra- 
tum additis Grsecis reliquiis ediderunt. Mediolan. 1818. 4to ; 
Eusebii Pamphili Caesariensis Episcopi Chronicon Biparti- 
tum nunc primum ex Armeniaco textu in Latinum conversum 
adnotationibus auctum Graecis fragmentis exornatum opera 
Jo. Bapt. Aucher. Venet. 1818. 2 vols. 4to. 

1 Ei£ tov fiiov roil pcucapiov KcovaravTivov (3a<n\£(OQ \6yoi 
riaaapEQ, — usually appended to the Ecclesiastical History, of 
which it may be regarded as the supplement. Baronius happily 
enough compared it to the Cyropaedia: (Constantini vitam,)quam 
scripsit imitatus in multis in ea potius Xenophontem ; qui, ut de 
eo testatur Cicero, vitam Cyri non tarn ad historiae fidem con- 
scripsit, quam ad effigiem justi principis exhibendam. Annal. 
ad an. 324. n. 5. 



I] THE FATHERS OF THE FOURTH CENTURY. 19 



SECTION II. 

FROM THE COUNCIL OF NICE 325, TO THE COUNCIL OF 
CHALCEDON 451. 

THE FATHERS OF THE FOURTH CENTURY ST. JEROME RUFJNUS 

GELASIUS OF C^ESAREA SULPICIUS SEVERUS — PAULUS ORO- 

SIUS PHILIP OF SIDE PHILOSTORGIUS SOCRATES SOZOMEN 

THEODORET. 

The fourth century, in many respects the most 
important in the history of the Church, was more 
an active than a literary period. It produced in 
abundance the subjects of history, but afforded few 
who had leisure or inclination to put them on 
record 1 . The age of the Arian controversy was 
rich in memorable events and illustrious men. But 
its worthies were most of them men of action, men 
who took part in the real business of life, who 
wrote not that they might occujDy their leisure, but 
that they might contribute to the decision of a great 
question which affected the dearest interests of man- 
kind. Their works were part of themselves — their 
acts, their doings. Their polemical and dogmatical 
writings, acute and subtile as they are, were com- 

1 The case is not by any means peculiar. Great events do 
not always immediately find their historian. Herodotus did 
not publish his work till five-and-thirty years after the battle of 
Salamis. And Livy did not write in the active days of Rome. 

c 2 



20 ST. JEROME. [Chap. 

posed to meet particular emergencies, not to gratify 
an intellectual want. It is this peculiarity which 
elevates them so far above mere men of letters, and 
gives to their stature heroic proportions in the eyes 
of posterity. They were, by their position and cha- 
racter, the subjects rather than the writers of his- 
tory K In the mean time their disciples and ad- 
mirers were too much occupied with the study of 
their writings and the prosecution of the great 
controversy of the time, to find leisure for a strictly 
literary employ. This state of things prevailed till 
the beginning of the reign of Theodosius. From 
the time when Eusebius wrote his life of Constan- 
tine to the council of Constantinople, we find no 
account of any direct accession that was made to 
the history of the Church. 

When the pen of history was at length resumed, 
it was handled for some time almost exclusively by 
western writers. The " Catalogue of the Eccle- 
siastical Writers 2 " which St. Jerome 3 compiled 
from Eusebius, and continued to his own time by 
notices gleaned from other quarters, is the first 

1 Several of the works of Athanasius are indeed of an histori- 
cal nature, but they were all written to meet particular emer- 
gencies ; none of them were written as history. 

a Liber de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis. In the second volume 
of his works. (Edit. Vallarsii.) But it is also printed in the 
Biblioth. Eccles. of Mirseus and Fabricius. 

3 It appears from a passage in his life of Malchus, that 
Jerome at one time intended to write a complete history of the 
Church. Appendix, Note E. 



I.] RUFINUS. 21 

work we meet with of an historical nature : and it° 
deserves particular notice as the earliest attempt to 
exhibit in a separate form the literary history of the 
Church \ But the writer who first continued the 
labours of Eusebius in a considerable work, was 
Rufinus of Aquileia, so well known at one time as 
Jerome's intimate friend, and afterwards as his 
bitter adversary. Having made a Latin version of 
the work of Eusebius, he continued the history of 
the Church to the death of the elder Theodosius 
(392) 2 . Both his translation and his original work 
are still extant 3 . The former, through which Euse- 
bius was for many ages known to the west, like 
his other translations, is only remarkable for the 
liberties which he has taken with the original 4 : 
and the latter 5 possesses so very little historical 

1 Appendix, Note F. 

2 These works were executed after his long residence of 
twenty -five years in Palestine, during Alaric's first invasion of 
Italy (400—403). 

3 Walch (Bibl. Theol. iii. 116) mentions two editions of 
the translation, viz. Basil. 1523 and 1539 ; and three of the 
History, viz. Rom. 1470; Lugd. 1570 ; and Paris. 1580. But 
they are more carefully and correctly enumerated by Schone- 
mann, Bibliotheca Historico - Literaria Patrum Latinorum, 
torn. i. 593—597. 

4 He has reduced it into nine books ; and the omissions and 
interpolations are numerous. Vertit Eusebii Historiam Rufinus, 
sed ita ut varia passim, librumque decimum integrum prope- 
modum omitteret, alia adderet atque interpolaret. Fabr. Bibl. 
Grsec. vi. 59. 

3 Appendix, Note G. 



22 GELASIUS OF CLESAREA. [Chap. 

value, that it has been completely superseded by 
the labours of succeeding writers. But, defective 
as it was, the " Ecclesiastical History" of Rufinus no 
sooner appeared, than it was translated into Greek. 
The translator was Gelasius \ bishop of Csesarea, 
and nephew of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who was, we 
are told, a worthy man and an eloquent writer, and 
probably regarded such a work as peculiarly suit- 
able for a successor of Eusebius. But the version 
obtained less reputation than the original. For we 
only become acquainted with its having existed 
from its being cited by Gelasius of Cyzicus 2 , the 

1 He is briefly noticed by Jerome ; Gelasius Csesareae Palaes- 
tinae, post Euzoium, episcopus, accurati limatique sermonis, 
fertur quaedam scribere, sed celare. De Script. Eccles. cap. 
130. Theodoret mentions him among the Fathers of the 
Council of Constantinople ; TeXdawg 6 Kaiffapetag rrjg YlaXaiart- 
vrjQ, X6ya> teal (3iu> Koa/jLov/Jievog. Eccles. Hist. lib. v. cap. 8. 
Opera, torn. iii. p. 1026. Edit. Schulze. He became bishop of 
Caesarea, by the influence of his uncle, in 380. Cave, Hist. Lit. 

2 "O ye firjv 'Pov^Ivoe, r) yovv TeXaaiog. Hist. Concil. 
Nicaeni, lib. i. cap. 7 ; ap. Concil. Labbe, torn. ii. col. 124, D. 
Photius (Bibl. Cod. lxxxix. p. 120.) tells us, that Gelasius 
represented himself as having been induced to undertake the 
work by his uncle Cyril. But this may have been intended to 
apply only to the introductory part of the work, the part which 
was really his own. There certainly was such an introduction, 
for Photius gives this title, Upooifxtov ETnatconov Kaiffapetag 
Yla\aioTivt)Q elg rd /iera rijv EKKXrjcriaaTtKijv laropiav 'Evatfiiov 
tuv Uajjicpikov. Cyril may have urged his nephew to undertake 
an Ecclesiastical History ; but unless Rufinus communicated 
the early part of his work to his friends in Palestine long before 
he gave it to the public, or even completed it, he could never 



I.] SULPICIUS SEVERUS— PAULUS OROSIUS. 23 

historian of the council of Nice, and from its having 
been read by Photius 1 . 

There are two other Latin writers occurring at 
the beginning of the fifth century, whom I must not 
omit to notice, though their works add little to our 
knowledge of the history of the Church. The "Sacred 
History" of Sulpicius Sever us 2 , which is a history 
of the Bible, continued to the year 400, written in 
an elegant Latinity, is important only for the ac- 
count it gives of the Priscillianists ; and the work 
of Paulus Orosius 3 , which was written with a 

have seen the labours of the Latin author. Cyril died in 386, 
and Rufinus certainly did not publish his Ecclesiastical History 
till the beginning of the next century. The story, which 
Photius tells us he had met with in other writers, that Cyril 
was associated with Gelasius in translating Rufinus, probably 
originated in Cyril's having incited his nephew to his historical 
labours. 

1 A passage from the Ecclesiastical History of Rufinus was 
read in Greek at the second Council of Nice (Concil. torn. viii. 
col. 80), but the name of the translator is not mentioned. 

2 Sulpicius Severus is well known as the friend and pan- 
egyrist of St. Martin Of Tours. He flourished about 401. The 
editions of the Historia Sacra are very numerous. See Fabr. 
Bibl. Lat. lib. iv. cap. 3. Schottgen's Continuation of Fabr f 
Bibl. Lat. Med. et Infim. JEtatis, p. 461. Walch, Bibl. Theol. 
torn. iii. p. 46. Schonemann, Bibl. Hist. Lit. PP. Latinorum, 
torn. ii. p. 372—405. 

3 Historiarum adversus Paganos Libri vii. ; written about 
the year 416, at the suggestion of St. Austin, to disprove the 
objection of the Pagans, that the troubles of the empire, par- 
ticularly the taking of Rome by Alaric in 410, were to be 
ascribed to the prevalence of Christianity. See Appendix, 



21: PHILIP OF SIDE. [Chap. 

controversial object against the Pagans, partakes 
more of the character of civil than of ecclesiastical 
history. 

But we are now recalled to the East. The most 
extensive historical work produced by any ancient 
Christian writer, was written in the early part of 
the fifth century, by Philip of Side, a distinguished 
ecclesiastic of the church of Constantinople. An 
intimate acquaintance with the illustrious Chry- 
sostom had led him to apply with ardour to literary 
pursuits. According to Socrates \ " he wrote much, 
affecting the Asiatic manner." But the chief result 
of his learning was, the work which he intituled the 
" Christian History." It commenced with the cre- 
ation, and was brought down, at all events, some- 
what lower than the year 425, when Sisinnius was 
appointed to the see of Constantinople. For we learn 
from Socrates 2 , that Philip whose friends had on 
that occasion endeavoured to raise him to the Patri- 
archal dignity, made his history a vehicle for reflec- 
tions on the character of his successful rival, and 
those who had procured his elevation. It was a 

Note H. The editions are enumerated by Fabricius, Bibl. Lat. 
Med. et Infim. iEtatis, torn. v. p. 515. et seq. and Schone- 
mann, Bibl. Hist. Lit. PP. Latin, torn. ii. p. 486—503. 

1 ZrfXtvaag rov 'Aaiavbv ruv \6yo)v yapaKrripa, TroXXct avv- 
eypcube. Hist. Eccles. lib. vii. cap. 27. p. 376. 

2 IloWa tt}q "xetpoTOviac Kadrj-^aro kv rrj ire.-KOvy]\xivy avrw 
Xpicrriaviicrj 'Icrropiq., cW/SaWwv ical tov \eipoToyr}devra, Kal rovg 
y£iporovr)(javTaQ) kcu 7toX\<o itXeov tovq Xcukuvc. Hist. Eccles. 
lib. vii. cap. 26. 



I] PHILIP OF SIDE. 25 

work of prodigious length \ divided into thirty-six 
books, and sub-divided into nearly a thousand sec- 
tions. It was written with ostentatious learning, 
but it found little favour with his contemporaries 
or with posterity. Socrates ill conceals his dis- 
approbation ; and Photius, in whose time it seems 
to have already become imperfect, speaks of the 
style and matter with great severity 2 . We have 
probably, therefore, no great reason to regret that 
it has long since perished 3 . 

Though the Arian controversy was terminated 
in the East by the end of the fourth century, it was 
but natural that some of the zealous adherents of 
the sects which had so long distracted Christendom, 
should give expression to the sentiments of vexation 
and disappointment with which they regarded the 
triumph of their orthodox opponents. Among the 
writers whose zeal thus prevailed over their pru- 

1 Appendix, Note I. 

2 "EoTi iroXvyovg rctig Xifeaiv, ovtc clgteLoq de, ovhe ETTiyapiQ' 
dXXd ical 7rpoaKopt)g, [laXXov he Kill drjdrjg' teal iirideiKTiKog fidX- 
Xov, rj wcpeXifjLOQ' /cat irapevTiQetg wc irXeiara firjdiv rrpog rr)v Icrro- 
piuv avvTeivovra. wg ovEev fA&XXov laroplav elvai, rj irpayjiaTiov 
er£pu)i' rr)v Trpay fiareiav ^LaXrjxpLv' ovriog d7reipoKdXu)g £Kk£kvtjui. 
Bibl. Cod. xxxv. p. 9. 

3 The celebrated fragment on the succession of the Alexan- 
drine School, (first brought to light by Dodwell in his Dissert. 
Iren., and also printed in the ninth vol. of Galland. Bibl. PP.) 
is the only one which has been published. See Fabr. Bibl. 
Graec. vi. 113. 



26 PHILOSTORGIUS. [Chap. 

dence was Philostorgius \ who appears to have 
been the first to discover the value of Ecclesiastical 
History as a controversial weapon, and to employ 
it in a regular and systematic attack on the doc- 
trines of the Church. He was a native of Cappa- 
docia, and was born in 368. He entertained the 
opinions of Eunomius, and regarded the Semi-arians 
with no less hostility than the friends of Athanasius. 
He began his work with the rise of Arianism, in the 
beginning of the fourth century, and brought it 
down to the year 425. It no longer exists entire. 
But the very copious extracts 2 , which we owe to 
Photius, though they give us no adequate notion of 
what it was as a whole, nor enable us to judge for 
ourselves of its literary merits 3 , amply confirm his 
remark that it " is less a history than an encomium 

1 Fabr. Bibl. Grasc. vi. 114. 

2 'Eft - Ttov 'EKKXrjGiaaTUcivv laTopiutv fyiXoGTopyiov £7rn-o/i>), arru 
(JHovrjg <X>w7-tov 7rarptap^ov. It is an analysis, or rather a review 
of the twelve books which composed the work of Philostorgius, 
and was first edited by the celebrated Jurist, Jacobus Gotho- 
fredus, at Geneva, in 1642. But it is published in a much 
more satisfactory state by Valesius, torn. iii. p. 476. et seq. 

3 The judgment of Photius is not very favourable. "Eari 
ri)v typaaLV KOfxxpog' leal 7roir)TtKalg, a\X ov KarciKOpiog, ov& a^api- 

TOIQ Xifeffl Kt^prilxivOQ' KaX >/ TpOTTll C£ CLVTW TIO kfltyoLTllCU) TT\V \apiV 

fiera. rov rjEecog k<pkXtceTai' nXr/v evicts. irapafioXojg avTalg ical 
ir\ei(TTOv aTr-orerpafX/JLevaig yptofxevog, elg -fyvyjpoXoyiav kcu aicaipo- 
Xoylav eKiriirrei* TrepifiifiXrjTai de avru) 7roiiciX(i)g 6 Xoyog, Kat kv 
Kopo)' <bg elg to aacHpeg, ical ovk ae\ yjxpizv tov aKpoctTrjv v-Koavpta- 
dui. kv noXXoig he /ecu oiiceiiog yvojfxoXoyel. Bibl. Cod. xl. 



I.] TERMINATION OF THE ARIAN CONTROVERSY. 27 

upon the heretics, and a mere accusation and vitu- 
peration of the orthodox V Great, however, as are 
the prejudices of Philostorgius, it is highly satisfactory 
to have the Arian view of the great events of this 
period ; and the remains of his work, whatever may 
have been its actual merit, are of no inconsiderable 
value for illustrating the history of the fourth 
century. 

The fifth century, however, was rich in Eccle- 
siastical historians of less exceptionable opinions. 
The triumph of the orthodox faith, under the reign 
of the great Theodosius, afforded the Church the 
tranquillity so propitious to literature. The con- 
troversy with the Arian sects was, as I have already 
remarked, completely exhausted. The errors of 
Apollinarius had been well nigh confined to the 
provinces bordering on Syria, the country in* which 
they originated ; and for upwards of fifty years no 
new heresy exercised the doctors of the Eastern 
Church in controversial warfare. During this period 
exegesis was the favourite pursuit of the Christian 
teachers. Chrysostom exhibited its importance in 
the churches of Antioch and Constantinople ; while 
Diodorus of Tarsus, and Theodore of Mopsuestia 2 , 

1 'Iffropel c)£ ravavrta oyzhbv a.7raai rolg ^KKXrjcriaGTiKolg la- 
roptKoig. e^aipet rovg 'Apeiavt^ovTag axavTag, XoiSopiaig ttXvvu 
Tovg opQoZo^ovg. wg elvat rr\v larop'iav avrov, fxrj laroptav jjiaWor, 
a\X kyKujfXLOv /jlev tujv alpeTiKutV \poyov cie yv^xvbv kol Karrjyopiav 
tojv opQoZofav. Bibl. Cod. xl. 

3 The naturalizing spirit of these great Oriental doctors pro- 



28 SOCRATES. [Chap. 

disciples of the same school, conducted it upon 
principles which led to two centuries of incessant 
controversy. But in a literary age history was not 
neglected. Contemporary with Philip of Side 
and Philostorgius, were Socrates, Sozomen, and 
Theodoret. 

Socrates ! was a native of Constantinople, by 
profession an advocate. He had received a liberal 
education, and possessed in a high degree many of 
the qualities most necessary for the historian. We 
know nothing of the events of his life except what 
we learn from his writings. It is uncertain at what 
age, or under what circumstances, he turned his 
attention to historical inquiries. The result of his 
researches, however, was an " Ecclesiastical His- 
tory 2 ;" which commences with the reign of Con- 
stantine (306), and concludes with the year 439. 
It was composed for the use of a friend of the name 
of Theodore 3 , and was professedly written as a con- 
tinuation of the work of Eusebius. The author 
declares that he was much less careful about his 

duced Nestorianism ; and Nestorianism stimulated into heresy 
(Eutychianism) the mystical and fanatical spirit which ever 
lurked in the Alexandrine school. 

1 Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vi. 117, et seq. 

2 ZioKpdrovg S^oXaort/cou 'Ejc/cX^crtaortfo) 'loropia. It is in 
seven books. The editions have been already noticed in note *. 
p. 15. 

3 At the beginning of the sixth book he says, to jiev eti Way p.a 
(tov, (h laps tov Qeov avQpwTTE QeoBojpe, iv ttevte toiq TrpuXnpoixri 
iDijjXiotc ciuTTOvriaafiEda. 



I] SOZOMEN. 29 

style than his matter, and assures us that his narra- 
tive was derived entirely from the testimony of writ- 
ten pieces, or parties concerned in the circumstances 
which he relates 1 . He was inquisitive, diligent, and 
candid ; and shows himself well acquainted with the 
right principles of historical investigation 2 . He 
appears to have examined his authorities with care, 
and to have weighed them with judgment. His 
style, though unadorned, is not disagreeable : and 
though he felt an excessive admiration for the mo- 
nastic heroes, and avows that he regarded the history 
of controversy as the chief object of the Ecclesiastical 
historian 3 , he never lays aside a becoming gravity, 
and uniformly writes with moderation and impar- 
tiality 4 . 

Salamanes Hermias Sozomenus 5 was born in 
Palestine. He received his early education among 

1 Appendix, Note J. 

2 I need only refer to the first chapter of the second book 
for proof of this. In his castigation of Rufinus, he has the 
sympathy of all the students of history who have been misled 
in their early studies by careless and ignorant writers. 

3 Appendix, Note K. 

4 The moderation, and even respect, with which Socrates 
speaks of the Novatians, has led to an opinion that he was a 
member of that sect. '0 tyiv Trpoarjyopiav, ov fxrjv cie ye /ecu rrjv 
irpoaipeaiv KaOapog Sw/cparr/c. Nicephor. Callist. Eccles. Hist, 
lib. i. c. i. p. 35, B. But this opinion is controverted by Va- 
lesius (in vit. Socr.), and seems to be totally groundless. 

5 Fabr. Bibl: Grsec- vi. 121, et seq. 



gO SOZOMEN. [Chap. 

the monks of that country, studied the law at Be- 
rytus, and at length practised as an advocate at 
Constantinople. Here, notwithstanding his pro- 
fessional engagements, he found leisure for the cul- 
tivation of Ecclesiastical history. He first composed 
in two books a sketch of the history of the Church 
before the time of Const antine : but this probably 
was never published, as we do not find it once al- 
luded to by any other writer. His chief work was 
a continuation of Eusebius 1 ; which extends in nine 
books from 323 to 423 2 , and is dedicated to the 
Emperor Theodosius the younger. He appears to 
have been a man of sincere and ardent piety, and 
he was well acquainted with the principles, both 
moral and literary, which should regulate the con- 
duct of the historian 3 . His work abounds with 
important information, often confirmed by the in- 
sertion of original documents. But he was of an 
enthusiastic turn of mind. He was a warm admirer 
of the most extravagant excesses of monastic fa- 

1 2a\a/zavov 'Epjisiov 2w£ojUevov 'EiacXrjaiaaTiKri 'laropia. For 
the editions see p. 15. note 1 . 

2 In the dedication to Theodosius he says, 7rp6si(n <H£ fiot >/ 
ypa^rj aVo rrjg YLpiaizov /cat Kuvaravrtvov ra>v Katcapw^ rptrrjg 
vwaTeiag, pixpi rrjg E7rTaica.i()eKa.rr)Q rrjg afjg. p. 6. The seven- 
teenth consulship of Theodosius corresponds with 439. And 
accordingly it has been asserted over and over again that Sozo- 
men concludes with that year. But the fact is that his history 
terminates with the death of Honorius, 423. 

3 Appendix, Note L. 



I] THEODORET. 31 

naticism 1 . He cannot, like the writer last men- 
tioned, be praised for accuracy and judgment. He 
was evidently a very different man : and we are ill 
compensated for the plain good sense of Socrates by 
the greater elegance of his more rhetorical and 
more credulous successor 2 . 

Theodoret 3 was born in 386, of noble and pious 
parents, at Antioch. His birth was regarded as a 
direct answer to prayer, and he was from his infancy 
devoted to a religious life. In the theological school 
of his native city, then at the height of its repu- 
tation, he was the attentive pupil of Chrysostom 
and Theodore, and distinguished himself by his pro- 
ficiency in professional studies. In the year 420 he 
was made bishop of Cyrus, and soon became cele- 

1 I would not be misunderstood in what I say of Sozdmen. I 
do not speak of him contemptuously. It is more pious, and more 
philosophical to speak of the different manifestations of religious 
feeling with respect than ridicule. The biographies of St. Jerome, 
the Dialogues of Sulpicius Severus, the Lausiac History (ap. 
Bibl. PP. Grseco-lat. torn. ii. p. 893, et seq.) of Palladius, the 
biographer of Chrysostom (Vita S. Chrysost. Paris. 1680), and 
the Religious History of Theodoret (Opera, torn. iii. p. 1099, et 
seq. edit. Halae), a man whose understanding no one can 
despise, are to the reflecting mind ample apologies for the most 
superstitious parts of Sozomen. 

2 Valesius, I think satisfactorily, shows that Sozomen was 
the later writer; though, as will appear presently, I do not 
agree with him in thinking that he was acquainted with the 
work of Socrates. 

3 Garnerii Hist. Theodoreti, ap. Opera, torn. v. p. 135, et 
seq. edit. Halae. Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vi. 124. 

8 



32 THEODORET. [Chap. 

brated for his zealous discharge of the episcopal 
duties, and his extraordinary talents and learning. 
His life, indeed, like that of Eusebius, is itself part 
of the history of the Church. His connexion with 
the Nestorian controversy troubled his later days, 
and has been in no small degree injurious to his 
memory. Like so many other persons of high 
literary distinction, he wanted that consistency and 
firmness of character without which no one, how- 
ever talented, can act with honour in public life. 
But his works have secured him an undying repu- 
tation. His exegetical writings are not exceeded 
in value by any thing of the kind produced by the 
ancient writers ; and his homilies rank among the 
happiest efforts of Christian eloquence. His Eccle- 
siastical History 1 is supposed to have been written 
towards the year 450 2 . It begins with the rise of 
Arianism 3 ; and it is not a little to the honour of his 
moderation and judgment that he discontinued it 
when he was in danger of being no longer impartial, 
and made the year 427 the term of his historical 
labours, instead of prolonging them beyond the 
Council of Ephesus, and the controversy to which 

1 Tov fxaKapiov QeoSoprjTOV kinaKOTtov Kvpov 'EfCKrX^o-iacTtKJyg 
'laropiag Xoyoi irivre. It is not only included in the collection 
of Valesius, but in the third volume of both the editions of Theo- 
doret's works. 

2 Garnerii Diss, de libris Theodoreti, p. 279, ap. torn. v. 

3 Or more properly when Arianism had become a matter of 
public interest, for he begins his history with the year 322. 
Appendix, Note M. 



L] THEODORET. %?> 

it led. It does not yield in literary merit to the 
labours of any of his contemporaries on the same 
subject. He has communicated much information, 
especially with respect to the East, which was 
omitted by Socrates and Sozomen ' ; and is declared 
by Photius 2 to have excelled all his predecessors in 
the style suitable to historical composition. 

It is natural to inquire in what relation these 
authors stood to each other. It is an unusual cir- 
cumstance for three writers, at nearly the same 
time, to exercise their pens upon pretty nearly the 
same period of history. The common opinion is 
that Sozomen wrote to supply the omissions, and 
improve upon the style of Socrates, and that Theo- 
doret designed his work as a supplement to the 
labours of the other two. This opinion, however, 
when examined, is found to rest entirely on con- 

1 II fait plus exactement qu'eux l'histoire des Ariens, il 
decrit plusieurs particularity que ces deux historiens n'avoient 
point remarquees, et il rapporte plusieurs choses concernant 
l'histoire des Eglises et des Eveques du Patriarchat d'Anti- 
oche, qui seroient demeurees dans l'oubli, s'il n'en eut conserve 

la memoire II ne paroit rien dans l'histoire de 

Theodoret, qu'une grande aversion contre toutes les heresies, 
un grand zele pour la religion, un grand amour de l'Eglise, un 
grand respect pour les saints Eveques qui ont defendu la foi, et 
un grand estime pour tous ceux qui ont bien vecu. Du Pin, 
Nouvelle Bibliotheque, torn. iv. p. 94, 95. 

2 HdvTioy twv elprjfxiviov KaTaWrjXov (j)pdcnv rr\ tarropta /JiaWoy 
'ovtoq k-jriQriKE, ffatyrjQ re yap, ical v\pr)\oQ, /ecu d.7ripiTTog. 7r\rjv on 

kvloTE rale pera<f)opa~ig irapafioXug ml &airtp airaipoKakojQ ixPV' 
(roro, Bibl. Cod. xxxi. p. 8. 

D 



34 THEODORET. [Chap. 

jecture. There is not, as far as I can discover, any 
direct evidence that any one of them was ac- 
quainted with the writings of either of the others \ 
There is no coincidence of arrangement or expres- 
sion which may not be accounted for upon the 
hypothesis, (a hypothesis which is capable of ample 
proof,) that they often employed the same mate- 
rials 2 . They are all men of too high a character to 
be fairly suspected, on slight grounds, of plagiarism, 
or petty rivalry. No one of them, unless under 
the influence of the miserable ambition which 
actuates the literary impostor, could have avoided 
some mention of the work of his predecessor, had 
he been aware of its existence. And the almost 
simultaneous appearance of three such works is, I 

1 Since the above was written, I have obtained the very able 
essay of F. A. Holzhausen, Commentatio de Fontibus, quibus 
Socrates, Sozomenus, ac Theodoretus in scribenda historia 
sacra usi sunt. Gottingae, 1825. After what he has written, 
it will not, I think, again be questioned that these historians 
wrote independently of each other. Verissima videtur sententia 
Antonii Pagi (Critic, in Baron, ann. 427. n. xvi.): Omnes tres 
circa idem tempus scripsisse videri, postremis Theodosii junioris 
annis, et Socratem ac Sozomenum, quum Constantinopoli, 
scrip tis prodidisse potissimum, quae in ecclesia Constantinopoli- 
tana contigerunt, Theodoretum vero, utroque longe doctiorem, 
et in Oriente versantem, errores plurimos, in quos uterque 
incidit, vitasse, et in rebus orientalibus fusiorem et diligentiorem 
fuisse, licet de Socrate et Sozomeno ne cogitaret quidem. 
p. 33, 34. 

2 Appendix, Note N. 



I.] THEODORET. 35 

think, most easily explained, by supposing that the 
writers were mutually ignorant of each other's 
* labours. 

Church-history maintained its original character 
in the hands of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret. 
They differed from Eusebius in the view they took 
of its principles, only in referring more sparingly to 
the literary labours of theologians. Like him, they 
regarded history merely as a record of facts. They 
rarely attempt to trace events to their causes ; nor 
exhibit that subtile philosophy which pervades the 
writings of Thucydides, Tacitus, and some of the 
historians of modern times. Their conception of 
their subject betrays nothing like genius, nor does 
their manner of handling it accord with the rules 
of art. They afford examples of accurate drawing ; 
but are destitute of the grandeur, harmony, and 
animation which we require in the finished pic- 
ture. The tone, however, in which they write is 
admirable. They are deeply impressed with the 
sacredness of their subject, and neglect few oppor- 
tunities of deducing from it lessons of spiritual 
wisdom. It is evident even from the passages 
which I have adduced from their writings, that they 
knew where to look for materials. They carefully 
examined the letters of emperors and bishops, the 
proceedings of councils, and the other public and 
private sources of information l . They seem to have 

1 The sources from which they derived their information, are 
carefully traced by Holzhausen, p. 35 — 96. 
D 2 



36 THEODORET. [Chap. I. 

fairly given us the result of their inquiries ; there 
is no reason to suspect that they ever wilfully 
departed from the truth. Their chief faults — cre- 
dulity, and a superstitious admiration of monastic 
austerities — were faults of their time ; and we can 
hardly regret that their works breathe the spirit of 
the age in which they were written. They were 
evidently conscientious men, who wrote nothing but 
what they themselves believed, and deemed worthy 
of being handed down to posterity. Their works 
were composed to serve no party purpose. And it 
would be ungrateful to withhold our gratitude from 
writers who have furnished us so largely with records 
of the instructive events which befell the Church 
during so important a period of her history. 



CHAPTER II. 



FROM THE COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON TO THE 
REFORMATION. 



SECTION I. 

FROM THE COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON, A.D. 451, TO THE PONTIFI- 
CATE OF GREGORY THE GREAT, A.D. 590. 

COMMENCEMENT OF THE MIDDLE AGES CONDITION OF THE EAST 

AND WEST COMPARED INFLUENCE OF THE CONTROVERSIES OF 

THE FIFTH CENTURY ON CHURCH-HISTORY HESYCHIUS — 

JOANNES JEGEATES BASILIUS CILIX THEODORUS LECTOR 

ZACHARIAS RHETOR EVAGRIUS THE TRIPARTITE HISTORY 

LIBERATUS DIACONUS THE CHRONICLERS. 

We now enter upon a new period. The council 
of Chalcedon synchronizes very closely with the 
changes in the political and social condition of the 
west of Europe which have generally been regarded 
as defining the limit of ancient history. The Roman 
, empire of the west was already but a name. The 
German tribes had already effected permanent 
settlements in its fairest provinces. A few years 



88 COMMENCEMENT OF THE [Chap. 

more made the change complete. The date of the 
council of Chalcedon is 451. The year 476 wit- 
nessed the deposition of Augustulus ; and in 486, 
the victory of Clovis established the Franks in 
Gaul. We cannot find a later era for the com- 
mencement of the middle ages. 

In the convulsions which ended in the breaking 
up of the ancient system, literature and the arts 
remained the undivided portion of the empire. 
Valour and success were on the side of its enemies ; 
but taste and learning, scared by the rudeness of 
the strangers, fondly clung to the venerable remains 
of Roman civilization. While society in the West 
assumed that picturesque and romantic form which 
imparts the charm of interest and beauty to the 
darkest periods of the dark ages, the East remained 
what it had been for more than a century. The 
Eastern empire had, if I may so speak, no middle 
age. The long narrative of its fortunes is but a con- 
tinuation of ancient history. In its protracted 
decline it retained the feelings and manners of 
antiquity, modified only by the orientalism intro- 
duced in the time of Constantine. While the West 
was displaying all the wildness of an early state of 
society, and was passing through the light and ad- 
venturous season of youth to the firmness and intel- 
ligence of manhood, the eastern portion of Christen- 
dom was living a long old age, dignified even when 
exhibiting the most decided marks of senility, and 
still retaining — marvellously retaining — the pecu- 

8 



II.] MIDDLE AGES. 39 

liarities, good and evil, of the brighter days of the 
Christian empire. 

The student of the history of the middle ages 
should always keep in view this distinction. But 
it is highly necessary that I should insist upon it 
here. For, as my plan leads me to deduce the suc- 
cession of the Ecclesiastical historians according to 
the order of time, by exhibiting together the writers 
of the East and West, I might otherwise contribute 
to perpetuate a very serious error. I would, there- 
fore, take this opportunity of begging my readers to 
remember, that the Greeks and Latins of the middle 
ages were only contemporaries : and that for the 
rest, there is not a greater difference between the 
climate of the Baltic and that of the iEgean, than 
there was during the middle period of history as to 
every thing that related to the spirit of the time, 
on the Rhine and on the Bosphorus. 

At the council of Chalcedon the Church assumed 
that position between naturalism and enthusiasm, 
which exposes her alike to the hostility of the 
rationalist and the fanatic. She renewed her protest 
against Nestorianism, while she solemnly con- 
demned the more spiritual error of Eutyches and 
Dioscorus. He who watches over her, preserved 
her from erroneous views of what it is not, perhaps, 
too much to call the characteristic doctrine of 
Christianity — the doctrine of the incarnation ; and 
she was enabled to raise a bulwark in that direction 
against the spirit of delusion, which by the Divine 



40 CONTROVERSIES OF THE FIFTH CENTURY. [Chap. 

blessing has proved impregnable. The immediate 
result, however, of the council of Chalcedon was 
not peace. The controversy respecting the doctrine, 
which had led to its convocation, was continued in 
various forms, and with no ordinary energy and 
learning, for upwards of two centuries ; and it was not 
till the sixth general council (680) had declared the 
sense of the Church against the Monothelites, that 
the disputes respecting the incarnation can be re- 
garded as having found their termination. The 
controversial spirit of the time, however, tended to 
promote rather than discourage the cultivation of 
Church-history. The various contending parties 
were anxious to defend the conduct of their friends, 
and to conciliate for their principles the good 
opinion of posterity ; and, accordingly, we are able 
to name not fewer than five independent writers 
who recorded the events which took place between 
the fourth and fifth general councils. But we have, 
unfortunately, no means of judging of the success 
which they attained in historical composition. Their 
works have perished 1 ; and we know nothing of 
them but what we learn from the notices of Photius, 
and the fragments of their writings which have been 
preserved elsewhere. 

1 We still possess the History of the Council of Nice, written 
by Gelasius of Cyzicus, towards the end of the fifth century. 
But it is a work which can scarcely be said to have affected 
the progress of Ecclesiastical History. It is printed in "most of 
the editions of the Councils. See Fabr. Bibl. Grsec. viii. 171. 



II.] HESYCHIUS. 41 

The Ecclesiastical history of Hesychius is known 
only from an extract which was read before the 
second council of Constantinople \ and a casual 
allusion made to the writer in a letter of the 
emperor Justinian, preserved in the " Paschal 
Chronicle 2 . 5 ' Fabricius 3 assigns it to a writer of 
the name who died in 433, and Cave 4 most strangely 
places it among the works of another who lived in 
601. But the tone in which he speaks of Theodore 
of Mopsuestia furnishes, I think, satisfactory evi- 
dence against the early date ; and it was, of course, 
by an oversight that our learned countryman placed 
him lower than 553. The work 5 from which the 

1 It is an account of the life and opinions of Theodore of 
Mopsuestia. We have it in a Latin version among the acts of 
the second Council of Constantinople, (Concil. Constant, col- 
latio V.) in the fifth volume of the Councils (Labbe) col." 470. 

2 Tavra fiapTvpovai ^oj^ojievoq, kcli 'Hcrv-^tog, /ecu 2w/cpctr^g, 
/ecu Qeocu)pr)TO£. Chron. Pasch. p. 295, E. Edit. Venet. 

3 Bibl. Graec. vol. vi. pp. 113, 245. 

4 Hist. Lit. ad ann. 

5 Though I follow my predecessors in ranking Hesychius 
among the Ecclesiastical historians, I feel a very strong sus- 
picion that no author of that name ever wrote an ecclesiastical 
history. I have stated above the evidence on which the 
common opinion is founded. Justinian's letter and the Acts of 
the Council, undoubtedly refer to the same passage of the same 
writer. The one mentions his name among Ecclesiastical 
historians, and the other calls his work an Ecclesiastical history. 
But the circumstance that no mention whatever is made of such 
a work elsewhere, and the character of the passage itself, which 
seems to me to be taken from a homily, induce me to think that 
the title as it now stands in the Acts of the Council, viz. " Ab 



42 JOANNES ^GEATES. [Chap. 

extract in question was made, was probably written 
towards the end of the fifth century. 

Joannes JEgeates, a presbyter of the Eutychian 
party, wrote his Ecclesiastical history in the begin- 
ning of the sixth 1 century. It consisted of ten 
books, and began with the rise of the Nestorian 
controversy. According to Photius, who had read 
the first five books, which ended with the year 477, 

Ecclesiastica Historia Hesychii Presbyteri Hierosolymorum, de 
Theodoro," was added, or altered by a transcriber, who meeting 
with a notice of an historical circumstance from a work which 
he did not happen to know, ignorantly assigned it to an 
ecclesiastical history. 

1 I have no hesitation in assigning a lower date than is 
usually given to Joannes iEgeates. Cave (ad ann. 483), it 
would seem from what he says, against his own judgment, has 
followed Vossius in placing him in the reign of the Emperor 
Zeno. But as he certainly gave an account of Xenaias of 
Hierapolis (Concil. torn. vii. col. 369), and mentioned the 
elevation of Severus to the see of Antioch (Nicephor. Callisti, 
Lib. xvi. cap. 29. p. 700), he could not have written earlier 
than 513. He must be distinguished from three other writers 
of the same name, with whom he has been sometimes con- 
founded, viz. Joannes Rhetor and Joannes Epiphaniensis, both 
cited by Evagrius, and Joannes Malelas, whom I shall notice 
hereafter. Bandini indeed concurs with Le Quien in thinking 
John the Monophysite to have been the same person as Joannes 
Rhetor, but I cannot yield to the authority of these learned 
men. (Bandini Imperium Orientale, ii. 569. edit. Venet.). It 
is true that Photius says that Joannes JEgeates was a Nestorian. 
Cod. lv. But this is a manifest error. For he immediately 
adds, that he wrote against the council of Chalcedon, a clear 
proof that he was a Monophysite. 



II.] BASILIUS CILIX. 43 

it was written with clearness and elegance 1 ; and vio- 
lent as may have been the prejudices of the author, 
we have great reason to regret the loss of a work of 
this nature, written by a professed Monophysite 2 . 

Basilius Cilix, who is generally supposed to 
have been Bishop of Irenopolis, in Cilicia 3 , is repre- 
sented as having entertained the opinions of Nes- 
torius 4 , though he does not appear to have with- 
drawn from the communion of the Church. His 
Ecclesiastical history, which was comprised in three 
books 5 , began with the reign of the Emperor 
Marcian, and was probably continued to the end of 

1 Appendix, Note O. 

2 He is called 'lojdvvrjg 6 haKpivofiEvog (Theod. Lect. p. 578. 
Concil. torn. vii. col. 369), and simply, 6 StakpivofJiEvoc (Incerti 
Demonstr. Chronograph, ap. Combefis. Originum C Politanarum 
Manipulum, p. 24), i. e. the Monophysite. The Monophysites 
were called ol SiaKpivo/j-evoi, because they scrupled to receive 
the council of Chalcedon : ojvofxaaav ecivtovq AiaKpivo/jLEvovQ, Sia 
to EiaKpivEcrda.1 avrovc Koivioveiv Ttj tcadoXiKrj ekkXtjctio., yjupiv tyjq 
fivrjfxovEvdeiarjQ avvohov' ravTr\v yap <hg opdo^o^ov ciyErai rj ctytw- 
rdrrj iicK\r]aia. Timoth. Presb. C P. de Receptione Haeretico- 
rum, ap. Cotelerii Eccles. Grsec. Monum. torn. iii. p. 406. 
See also Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vol. vi. p. 113. 

3 Cave, Hist. Lit. ad ann. 497. Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vol. vi. 
p. 114. This, however, is not the opinion of Le Q,uien (Oriens 
Christ, torn. ii. col. 899), who thinks Basilius Cilix to have 
been a different person from the bishop mentioned by Suidas. 

4 Photii Bibl. Cod. cvii. 

5 Photius was acquainted only with the second book, which 
included the period from the death of Pope Simplicius (483) to 
the accession of Justin (518). But the author himself, he 
tells us, made a mention of first and third. Bibl. Cod. xlii. 
We are not told at what period the third book concluded. 



44 THEODORUS LECTOR. [Chap. 

that of Justin I. Photius 1 tells us that he was an 
incorrect and unequal writer, and complains that his 
work was rather an unwieldy collection of original 
letters than a lucid historical composition. But 
this censure of the critic only makes us the more 
regret that we are not so fortunate as to possess a 
writer who would have contributed a large supply 
of the sources of history. 

Theodore, a reader of the great church at Con- 
stantinople, hence generally known as Theodorus 
Lector 2 , distinguished himself by the cultivation of 
Church-history in the early part of the sixth cen- 
tury. We know nothing of the particulars of his 
life; his writings only have saved his name from 
oblivion. But these were important. He appears 
to have been the only orthodox Ecclesiastical his- 
torian of his time. His first 3 work was an original 
history, in two books, of the period between the 
council of Ephesus (43 1 ) and the reign of the elder 

1 Appendix, Note P. 

2 Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vi. 128. The remains of this writer 
have usually been printed with the other Greek Ecclesiastical 
Historians. 

3 As the Ecclesiastical History of Theodore appears to have 
been a complete work, while his Tripartite arrangement seems 
to have been never finished, I cannot but regard the former as 
having been first written. This, however, has not been the 
general opinion. The two have sometimes been regarded as 
intended to form one work — the part which was original, 
being merely a continuation of the other. Thus Suidas says, 
eypcupev laropiav £Kic\rj(riaaTiKr)v and tu>v yjtovwv Kiovaravrivov, 
ewe TiJQ ftaffiXeia^ 'Iovgtlvicivov* 



II.] THEODORUS LECTOR. 45 

Justin (518), which was held in great esteem by 
Succeeding writers, and appears to have been written 
with judgment and accuracy. It has not come down 
to posterity: we only possess a series of extracts 1 
made from it by Nicephorus Callisti 2 in the four- 
teenth century, and a few other fragments. But 
these, though they throw little light on the form 
and method of the work to which they belonged, 
afford much authentic information respecting the 
state of the Eastern Church from the death of 
Theodosius II. to that of Anastasius. 

But Theodore the Reader has an especial claim 
for notice in the present work, as the earliest writer 
of a new kind of Ecclesiastical history. The writers, 

1 'E/cXoycu eic rrjc 'EtacXrjo-icMTTiKrjQ 'laropiaq QeoSiopov 'Ava- 
yvuxrrov, ano (jxjjvrjc Nucrjtyopov KuWicttov tov &lav6o7rov\dv. 

2 Valesius, however, believed that Nicephorus himself pos- 
sessed no other part of the work of Theodore than these 
extracts. Re attentius examinata, dubito utrum Nicephorus 
integram Theodori Lectoris Historiam legerit. Quantum enim 
ex accurata lectione Nicephori colligere possum, Nicephorus 
integrum opus Historiae Ecclesiasticae Theodori non viderat, 
sed excerpta duntaxat quae nunc habemus. Certe si integrum 
opus Theodori legisset Nicephorus, multo plura ac meliora inde 
in suam Historiam transtulisset. Quod cum ille non fecerit, 
sed sola ea retulerit quae hodie leguntur in excerptis Theodori, 
apparet verissimum esse id quod dixi, integram scilicet Theodori 
Lectoris Historiam a Nicephoro visam non fuisse. Quare verba 
ilia cnro (JHdvrjg NiKrityupov, quae leguntur in titulo Excerptorum 
Theodori, non ita accipienda sunt, quasi horum Excerptorum 
auctor fuerit Nicephorus. Sed id tantum significant, Nice- 
phorum Callistum haec excerpta amanuensi suo dictasse. 
Praefat. ad torn. iii. Eccles. Hist. Scriptorum. 



46 THEODORUS LECTOR. [Chap. 

who had hitherto attempted to illustrate the for- 
tunes of the Church, had confined themselves to 
original composition. Theodore condescended to 
edit the labours of his predecessors. At the sug- 
gestion, as he tells us, of a Paphlagonian presbyter, 
or bishop 1 , he employed himself in reducing the 
works of the three historians, Socrates, Sozomen, 
and Theodoret, into one connected narrative 2 , with 
a view probably of providing a convenient connexion 
between the history of Eusebius and his own work 3 . 
But it does not appear that this Tripartite history 
was completed. His labours probably were inter- 

1 He thus notices the circumstance in the Procemium of his 
work. 'Ek rivog \pf](pov eTnZ,evovoQai jxol Xayjovri Kara to rijierepoy 
HcKJ>\ay6vu)P edvog 'ev fir]rpo7r6Xei rovvofia Tayypa, ev avrij re 
a.7co\avaavTL rrjg arjg lepag ofiov Kal rifxiov /jloi KetyaXrjg, rjvayKa£6- 
/jLrjv 7rap' avrfjg, el, avrfjg rag viroQeaeig Xr)\p6fJievog avvayayeiv 
rwv EKicXrjaiaaTUciov laroptujv rovg eKdevrag, Kal fiiav riva el, avru>v 
apfJLOcracrdat uvvra^iv. erteiZf] Ze TrarpiKrj KeXevaet avriXeyeiv ov% 
Offiov, el nal (ppdareojg rfjg irpeTrovar)g eXenrofxrjv, aXX £7rt rb roiov- 
rov epyov dfxeXXtjrl fjXdov, v/xerepaig ev^alg redapprjKwg. From 
this passage, and the inelegance of his style, Valesius suspects 
that Theodore was himself a Paphlagonian. 

2 Appendix, Note Q. 

3 Primum opus nihil aliud erat quam Historia Tripartita, 
duobus libris comprehensa, quam ex Socrate, Sozomeno, ac 
Theodorito unum in corpus collegerat, a vicesimo anno Im- 
peratoris Constantini usque ad principatum Juliani. Hujus 
Tripartitae Historian notitiam Leoni Allatio debemus, qui pri- 
mus hoc monumentum ex tenebris eruerat, et publica luce 
donaturum se esse promiserat. Ejusdem Historiae manuscrip- 
tum exemplar Venetiis in Bibliotheca sancti Marci extare, jam 
pridem monuit Possevinus : quod etiam ab se visum illic esse 
mihi testatus est Emericus Bigotius. Valesius in Praefat. 



II.] ZACHARIAS RHETOR. 47 

rupted. We find two books only of this arrange- 
ment mentioned by ancient writers ; and the ma- 
nuscript of the work, which was in the possession of 
Leo Allatius, brought down the history merely to 
the death of Constantius (361). We have no 
reason to regret that it never became popular, as we 
are no doubt indebted to the circumstance for the 
preservation of the original works in their integrity. 
If the Tripartite history of Theodore had been read 
as widely and as exclusively in the East, as that of 
Cassiodorus was in the West, it is scarcely likely 
that we should now possess a complete work of any 
Greek Ecclesiastical historian of the fifth century. 

Zach arias Rhetor was bishop of Melitene 1 , in 
the lesser Armenia, in the former part of the reign 
of Justinian. His Ecclesiastical history was only 
known to have existed from its being frequently 
referred to by Evagrius, till, in the last century, 
several considerable fragments of a Syriac transla- 
tion 2 , or the original, were published from the 
Vatican manuscripts in the Bibliotheca Orientalis 
of Assemani. It extended, according to this learned 
Maronite, from the reign of Constantine to the 
middle of that of Justinian 1 3 . The earlier portions, 

1 Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, torn. ii. col. 1451. 

2 Assemani appears to have thought that the work was 
originally written in Syriac. But, in the absence of positive 
evidence, I am disposed to regard the fact of its being so often 
referred to by Evagrius, who, as far as I am aware, never 
quotes a Syriac writer, as proving that it was written in Greek. 

3 Zacharias Meletinse in Armenia minore Episcopus, claruit sub 



48 ZACHARIAS RHETOR. [Chap. 

he tells us, were merely abridgments of Socrates 
and Theodoret ; and the original part must have 
come down as low as I have stated, as it mentioned 
the taking of Rome by Totila (546). It is evident, 
from the testimony of Evagrius 1 , and the sentiments 
expressed in the fragments of his work, that the 
author was a zealous Monophysite. 

Justiniano Imper. circa annum Christi 540. Rhetorem vocat Eva- 
grius in Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. cap. 2, 8, 10, et lib. iii. cap. 5, 6, 7, 

x 

et 18. Malelam W*2^o hoc est, oratorem, seu Rhetorem, 
et Meletinensem Episcopum diserte appellat Barsalibaeus, 
cujus -verba retuli supra pag. 53. Scripsit Historiam Ec- 
clesiastic am a Constantini Magni Imperio usque ad annum 
Justiniani vigesimum, quae anonyma exstat in Cod. Syr. Vat. 
24. Sed Auctoris nomen turn ex collatione locorum, quae ab 
Evagrio ex Zacharia citantur, turn ex Barsalibaeo, qui ejus no- 
men diserte prodidit, restituimus. Tres vero Partes continet. 
Prima est epitome Socratis : Altera Theodoreti : Tertia opus 
ipsius Zachariae a Theodosio Juniore usque ad Justinianum .... 
Tertia Pars, unde Zacharias initium historiae suae ducit, incipit a 
fol. 78. Mutila est autem, et ab amanuensi videtur in compen- 
dium redacta, vel potius capita quaedam ex historia Zachariae, 
quae in octo libris dividebatur, ut infra patebit, decerpta. Asse- 
mani Bibliotheca Orientalis, torn. ii. cap. 7. pp. 54, 55.- 

1 'E^7ra0uic ri)v 6\r\v 7rpayfxareiav ffvyypaxpag. Lib. iii. C 7* 
p. 341. Zayaplaq fxev e/jnraduiQ 6 'PrjTiop icai Neoroptov ek rrjg 
v7repopiaQ fier an ejxnrov yeveadat (final. Lib. ii. cap. 2. p. 284. 
Valesius translates the latter passage, " Et Zacharias quidem 
Rhetor Nestorio favens, ab exsilio eum ad Consilium evocatum 
esse dicit;" a strange blunder. The story that Nestorius was 
recalled from banishment by the council of Chalcedon, was an 
invention of the Monophysites. Evagrius evidently means to 
assert that Zacharias inserted it in his history from party pre- 
judice (e/jiiraduc), i. e. as a Monophysite. 



II.] EVAGRIUS. 49 

The splendour of the reign of Justinian revived 
the declining literature of the empire, and stimu- 
lated it to a greater perfection than it had attained 
perhaps since the age of the Antonines. History 
was the favourite pursuit of the period. But the 
fortunes of the state engrossed the attention of the 
men of letters ; and with the single exception of the 
author just mentioned, we are acquainted with no 
writer who expressly applied himself to illustrate 
the history of the Church. Yet we are in some 
measure compensated for the want of contemporary 
writers, and the loss of those of the preceding age, 
by possessing entire the work of Evagrius Scholas- 
ticus, who wrote in the last years of the century ; 
and we have been spared, moreover, a large quantity 
of the original documents, which were occasioned 
by the Ecclesiastical transactions of the times. 

Evagrius was a Syrian, a native of Epiphania 1 , 
who practised as an advocate at Antioch, where, by 
the interest of Gregory, the accomplished patriarch 
(570 — 594), to whom on a trying occasion he ren- 
dered professional assistance 2 , he obtained high civil 
dignities. His Ecclesiastical History 3 extends, in six 
books, from the council of Ephesus to the twelfth 

1 Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vi. 126. 

2 He accompanied his client to Constantinople, whither he 
went to answer some malicious charges before the Emperor and 
a Synod. Hspl rovrujv kfiov irapehpEvovToq Kal 7rapovTog ye avrw, 
Kara r-qv fiaaiXiojQ yiyove tyjv atroXoylav ixpiZow. Lib. vi. cap. 7. 
p. 458. 

Evayp/ou S^oXacrrticoi) 'E7n0avfW£ iccu euro £7rap%u)v, 'Ek - - 
E 



50 EVAGRIUS. [Chap. 

year of the Emperor Maurice (594). Strictly 
speaking, therefore, it does not belong to the in- 
terval allotted to this section ; though, as it was 
written in the author's declining years, and con- 
cludes the first series of the Greek works of a si- 
milar nature, it is more naturally noticed here than 
in the following period. The style, as Photius 1 
remarks, though somewhat diffuse, is not unpleasing ; 
the opinions expressed, though they sometimes par- 
take of the inaccuracy 2 of an unprofessional writer, 
are sound and orthodox ; and the whole work bears 

KXrjaricHTTiKr) 'laropia, printed in the third volume of the Collec- 
tion of Valesius. 

1 "Eort £e tyiv dpaaiv ovtc ixyapiQ, eI icai ttioq TrspiTTiveadat 
evicts Soke!, ev rrj $e tujv ^oy^ictTiov opdoTrjTi tHHv aXXwv fiaWov 
l(TTopiKu)v. Bibl. Cod. xxix. p. 7. Valesius gives the follow- 
ing candid and judicious estimate of the merits and defects of 
Evagrius : Laudanda est in primis Evagrii diligentia, qui cum 
historiam Ecclesiasticam scribere aggressus esset, quaecumque 
ad id argumentum spectabant, ex optimis scriptoribus collegit, 
puta ex Prisco, Joanne, Zacharia, Eustathio, et Procopio Rhe- 
toribus. Stilus quoque ejus non improbandus est. Habet 
enim elegantiam et venustatem, ut testatur etiam Photius. Sed 
quod praecipue in Evagrio laudandum est, ex Graecis Ecclesias- 
ticae historise scriptoribus, solus hie rectae fidei doctrinam 
integram atque illibatam servavit, ut post Photium observavit 
Baronius in Annalibus. Illud tamen in eo reprehensionem 
meretur, quod non tantam diligentiam adhibuit in conquirendis 
antiquitatis Ecclesiasticae monumentis, quantam in legendis 
profanis scriptoribus. Praefat. ad torn. iii. 

2 The famous passage on the Monophysite controversy 
(lib. ii. cap. 5. p. 294), which has been so often quoted, 
betrays the layman, perhaps I might say the lawyer ; and 



II] TRIPARTITE HISTORY. 51 

abundant marks of the care and diligence with 
which the author collected his materials. The 
general plan is similar to that adopted by the earlier 
labourers in the same field. It differs only in admit- 
ting a larger portion of merely civil history. Evag- 
rius is credulous doubtless, and perhaps prejudiced, 
but he is at the same time accurate and inquisitive ; 
and inferior as he is in the art of historical compo- 
sition to his eminent contemporaries, Procopius, 
Agathias, and Theophylact, he is justly regarded as 
having rendered good service to the History of the 
Church. 

While the East was thus fertile in historical 
works, the West, unfavourably as it was situated for 
literary pursuits, did not totally neglect the culti- 
vation of Church-history. An important work is 
due to the period on which we are now engaged ; I 
mean the celebrated Tripartite History 1 , or Latin 
arrangement of the works of Socrates, Sozomen, and 
Theodoret. It is itself a striking proof of the me- 
lancholy condition of those unhappy times, that up- 
wards of a century elapsed before the writings of 

shows that he was not so intimately acquainted as he ought to 
have been with the history of the doctrine of the Incarnation. 

1 Historise Ecclesiasticas, quam Tripartitam vocant, ex tribus 
Graecis anctoribus Sozomeno, Socrate, et Theodoreto, ab Epi- 
phanio Scholastico versis, per Cassiodorum Senatorem in Epi- 
tomen redactse libri xii. This is the title as it stands in the 
first volume of the Benedictine edition of Cassiodorus. A 
notice of the earlier editions of the Tripartite History is given by 
Walch. Bibl. Theol. iii. 116. 

E 2 



52 TRIPARTITE HISTORY. [Chap. 

those historians were circulated in the language of 
the Western world, and that the translation, which 
was at length published, was not the natural growth 
of native curiosity, but was due to the piety and 
public spirit of a wealthy individual. Marcus Au- 
relius Cassiodorus was descended from a senatorial! 
family, and, as the minister of the great Theodoric, 
enjoyed the highest honours in the Gothic kingdom 
of Italy. After retiring from the world in the year 
537, he devoted his talents to the spiritual and 
mental improvement of the inmates of a monastery 
which he founded in Calabria. Deeply sensible of 
the importance of Church-history, and anxious to 
wipe away the reproach that the Greeks possessed 
historical treasures which were inaccessible to his 
countrymen 1 , he employed Epiphanius Scholasticus, 
an Italian eminent for his acquaintance with the 
Greek language 2 , to translate the continuators of 
Eusebius into Latin ; and he afterwards himself 
digested the three narratives into one connected 

1 Post historiam Eusebii apud Graecos Socrates, Sozomenus, 
et Theodoritus sequentia conscripserunt ; quos a viro Epiphanio 
disertissimo in uno corpore duodecim libris fecimus, Deo aux- 
iliante, transferri, ne insultet habere se facunda Graecia neces- 
sarium, quod vobis judicet esse subtractum. Cassiodor. Instit. 
Divin. Lect. cap. xvii. 

2 The moderns, however, have not been so well convinced of 
the competency of Epiphanius, as his noble employer. " Epi- 
phanium Scholasticum," says Fabricius, " interprets officio non 
optime iunctum esse, ac linguam utramque ex aequo ignorasse, 
plerorumque post Rhenanum est judicium." Bibl. Lat. ii. 653. 



II] TRIPARTITE HISTORY. 53 

history 1 . Though, as we have already seen, he was 
not the first to attempt a harmony of this kind, it 
does not appear that he was aware that any thing 
of the kind had been done before. He has there- 
fore all the merit, if here it can be regarded as a 
merit, of originality. But, in truth, the design was 
a proof of the degeneracy of literature. It has been 
well observed that the appetite for abridgments, 
and I may add compendious ways of obtaining learn- 
ing, marks the decline of civilization. The different 
fate of the works of Theodore the Reader and Cas- 
siodorus, affords a striking evidence of the different 
state of intellectual culture in the East and West 
in the sixth century. The one attracted little notice, 
the other was received with eagerness and preserved 
with care : yet Cassiodorus deserves to be named 
with respect for having supplied his contemporaries 
with a work well suited to their actual wants. And 
small as is the value of the Tripartite History to 
those who possess, and have the power of reading, 
the works from which it was compiled, it is of great 
importance in a historical view of the condition and 
progress of Ecclesiastical History, as having, with 
the translation of Eusebius, which had been made 
by Rufinus, supplied the West, for nearly a thousand 
years, with all it knew of the fortunes of the ancient 
Church. 

The active opposition of the North African 
divines to the measures of Justinian respecting 
" the Three Chapters," led to the further examina- 
1 Appendix, Note R. 



54 LIBERATUS DIACONUS. [Chap. 

tion and elucidation of an interesting portion of 
Church-history. Not to mention the controversial 
work of Facundus of Hermiana \ which was to a 
certain extent historical, Liberatus Diaconus, arch- 
deacon of Carthage, wrote an account 2 of the 
troubles which had been occasioned by the errors of 
the Nestorians and Eutychians to the year 553. 
His work 3 is for the most part compiled from 
original documents, and though written in a rude 
style, and with little regard to the rules of his- 
torical composition, is valuable for the information 
which it affords on the controversies respecting the 
Incarnation. 

But though there were few Latin writers who 
handled the pen of history, during the whole of this 
period, a number of contemporary annalists were 
engaged in recording the events which befell the 
Church and state. We still possess the Latin 
chronicles of Idatius, Prosper Aquitanus, Marcel- 
linus Comes, Marius Aventicensis, Victor Tumi- 
nensis, and Joannes Biclariensis 4 ; which all throw 
more or less light on the history of the Church. 

1 Facundi Hermianensis Ecclesiae Episcopi Provinciae Afri- 
canae, pro Defensione Trium Capitulorum Concilii Calchedo- 
nensis, libri xii. ad Justinianum Imperatorem. Ap. Sirmondi 
Opera, torn. ii. col. 297 — 586. 

2 Breviarium Causae Nestorianorum et Eutychianorum col- 
lectum a sancto Liberato archdiacono Ecclesiae Carthaginensis 
regionis sextae. Ap. Concil. torn. v. col. 740 — 780. It was 
published in a separate form by Gamier ; Paris, 1675. 

3 Appendix,- Note S. 

4 Prosper, Victor, an anonymous continuator, and the Abbot 



II.] CHARACTER OF MEDLEVAL HISTORY. 55 



SECTION II. 

FROM THE PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY THE GREAT, A.D. 590, TO 
THE DEATH OF CHARLEMAGNE, A.D. 814. 

THE CONDITION OF HISTORY IN THE MIDDLE AGES ST. GREGORY 

OF TOURS ST. ISIDORE OF SEVILLE THE VENERABLE BEDE 

PAULUS DIACONUS THE IRON AGE OF BYZANTINE LITERATURE 

JOANNES MALELAS THE PASCHAL CHRONICLE GEORGIUS 

SYNCELLUS — THEOPHANES NICEPHORUS. 

Church-history was scarcely less affected than 
other branches of knowledge by the peculiar cir- 
cumstances which characterised the middle ages. 
In the long interval between the end of the sixth 
century and the revival of classical literature, no 
distinction was generally recognized between civil 
and Ecclesiastical history. The few works which 
were composed in imitation of the ancient models, 
were the lucubrations of students and antiquarians 
— exotics produced by artificial culture, and exhibit- 
ing, for the most part, little of the freshness and 
vigour of an indigenous vegetation. Those, which 
were the natural and spontaneous growth of the 
period, had all more or less of an Ecclesiastical 

of Biclaro, form a series, ending with the year 590. They are 
printed in the first volume of Basnage's edition of the " Antiquae 
Lectiones" of Canisius, pp. 264 — 341. Idatius and Marcel- 
linus Comes are to be found most complete in Sirmond's 
Works, vol. ii. col. 227 — 296. Edit. Venet. 1728. Marius 
Aventicentis is in the first volume of Du Chesne's Scriptores 
Rerum Franc. 



56 CHARACTER OF MEDLEVAL HISTORY. [Chap. 

character, though scarcely any were written ex- 
pressly on the history of the Church. This was 
just as it might have been expected to be. 
The Church was co-extensive with European civi- 
lization 1 . Writers were almost universally eccle- 
siastics. Literature was scarcely anything but a 
religious exercise ; for every thing that was studied, 
was studied with a reference to religion. The men, 
therefore, who wrote history, wrote Ecclesiastical 
history. It was not that they did so intentionally: 
they did not write by rules : they only put down 
what they had seen, what they had heard, what 
they knew. Very many of them did what they 
did as a matter of moral duty. The result was, in 
point of fact, something sui generis ; it was not even 
what we call history at all. It was, if I may so 
speak, something more, — an actual admeasurement, 
rather than a picture ; or, if a picture, it was painted 
in a style which had all the minute accuracy and 
homely reality of the most domestic of the Flemish 
masters, not the lofty hyperbole of the Roman 
school, nor the obtrusive splendour, not less un- 
natural, of the Venetian. In a word, history as a sub- 
ject of criticism, is an art, a noble and beautiful art 2 ; 
the historical writing of the middle ages is nature. 

Though I profess to confine myself to my own 
particular subject, and carefully abstain from 

1 Appendix, Note T. 

2 Est enim proxima poetis, et quodam modo carmen solutum, 
as Quinetilian says. 



II.] ST. GREGORY OF TOURS. 57 

general observations, I cannot forbear remarking 
that we shall never do justice to the literature of 
the middle ages while we obstinately continue to 
criticize it by a standard formed upon the classical 
models. We must duly appreciate the circum- 
stances under which it was produced, and the rela- 
tion in which it stood to the state of society out of 
which it grew, — we must study it with a close re- 
ference to the antiquities of the period, before we 
can possibly judge of it fairly. Those who are still 
disposed to sneer rather than examine, will do well 
to remember that the Ecclesiastical architecture, 
which was the very scorn of pedantic acade- 
micians for nearly three centuries, is now studied, 
wherever it has escaped the ravages of classical 
barbarians, for its rich and exquisite poetry. 

But though the general character of the original 
histories of the middle ages is such as I have 
described it, — though they all partake more or less 
of the nature of Ecclesiastical history, while they 
form, in fact, a peculiar and distinct species of his- 
torical composition, — they have not all equal claims 
to be noticed in the present work. I am not here 
reduced to the hard alternative of either noticing or 
excluding all ; but may properly call attention to 
those only which deserve from any peculiar cir- 
cumstances to be regarded as having contributed in 
any considerable degree to extend an acquaintance 
with the history of the Church. 

St. Gregory of Tours belongs to the sixth cen- 



,58 ST. GREGORY OF TOURS. [Chap. 

tuiy, and the exact order of time required that he 
should have been introduced in the last section. 
But he was the first of a new school. As the type 
of the Franco-Gallic church, under the Merovingian 
dynasty, he is more correctly assigned to the period 
upon which we have now entered — the most dreary 
period of literary history. The manners and insti- 
tutions of the Northern conquerors had well nigh 
obliterated the Roman civilization, and had as yet 
only propagated rudeness and ignorance in their 
stead. Even the Church, which at first opposed an 
effectual resistance to the influx of barbarism, at 
length participated in the general debasement ; 
though, as the darkness gathered thickly round it, 
it appeared more distinctly " the light of the world." 
We owe it to her kindly protection that learning 
was not totally extinguished in this melancholy 
period, and that the gloom of the darkest times of 
European civilization was illumined by the illustrious 
Fathers of French \ Spanish, and English history. 

1 Ceux qui dans le dernier siecle ont travaille avec le plus 
de succes sur l'histoire de France, conviennent que c'est a 
Saint Gregoire de Tours que Ton est redevable de la connois- 
sance que nous avons des premiers rois de la nation, et des 
principaux evenemens de leurs regnes. lis appellent les dix 
livres de ce pere le fond de notre histoire, et ne regardent que 
corame des commentaires sur ces livres ce qu'ils ont ecrit sur le 
meme sujet. II ne seroit pas possible en effet de parler des 
commencements de la monarchie Francoise, sans le secours de 
cet ecrivain. Ceillier, Histoire des Auteurs Sacres, torn. xvii. 
p. 6. 



II.] ST. ISIDORE OF SEVILLE. 59 

Georgius Florentius Gregorius was born in the 
year 544, of a noble and wealthy family in Auvergne. 
He received a liberal education in his native pro- 
vince. At an early age he was ordained deacon by 
the bishop of Clermont, and he had not attained 
the age of thirty when his distinguished professional 
merit obtained for him the see of Tours. In this 
important station, which he filled till his death in 
595, though he was frequently employed in public 
business, and actively discharged the sacred duties 
of his function, he still found leisure for literary 
labours. Of these by far the most important is his 
"Ecclesiastical History of the Franks 1 ," a work in 
ten books, which has come down to us entire, and 
forms the chief and only authentic source of early 
French history. His style is incorrect and inelegant 2 . 
His credulity is truly wonderful. But it contains a 
large quantity of valuable Ecclesiastical information, 
and though described by the title as a national his- 
tory, the plan of the author led him to introduce 
much which properly belongs to the general history 
of the Church. 

St. Isidore of Seville (Isidorus Hispalensis) has 
always been regarded as one of the brightest orna- 
ments of the church of Spain. He was a native of 
Carthagena, and was archbishop of Seville during 

1 Historise Ecclesiasticae Francorum libri decern. It was 
continued by Ffedegarius Scholasticus, (a native of Burgundy, 
who flourished in the middle of the seventh century,) and four 
later writers, whose names are unknown, to the year 768. 

2 Appendix, Note U. 



60 BEDE. [Chap. 

the former part of the seventh century (595—636). 
His works, still extant, display his extensive learning, 
and amply account for the admiration with which 
he was regarded by his contemporaries 1 . A Chro- 
nicle 2 , from the creation to the fifth year of Herac- 
lius (614), a History 3 of the Goths, Vandals, and 
Suevi, and the addition 4 which he made to the 
catalogues of St. Jerome and Gennadius, form his 
contributions to Ecclesiastical History, and possess 
the greatest value in the estimation of posterity 5 . 

The Venerable Bede, the undoubted father of 
our own national history, was born at Monkton, 
near Jarrow, in Durham, in the year 672. He was, 
from his childhood, an inmate of the cloister 6 , and 

1 He is thus spoken of by the Fathers of the eighth Council 
of Toledo, which was held in 653, a few years after his death ; 
— Nostri saeculi doctor egregius ecclesiae catholicae, novissimum 
decus, praecedentibus aetate postremus, doctrinae comparatione 
non infimus, et quod majus est, in sasculorum fine doctissimus, 
atque cum reverentia nominandus Isidorus. Concil. torn. vi. 
col. 404. A. 

2 Chronicon " ab exordio mundi usque ad Augusti Heraclii, 
et Sisebuti Gotthorum Regis principatum." Opera, torn. i. 
Pars. ii. p. 123. Edit. Matriti, 1778. 

3 Historia sive Chronicon Gothorum. Vide Fabr. Bibl. 
Latina Med. et Infim. iEtatis, vol. iv. p. 547. 

4 Liber Isidori Hispalensis Episcopi de Scriptoribus Eccle- 
siasticis, ap. Miraei Bibl. Eccles. pp. 75 — 90. 

5 Durch seine historischen Werke hat er der Nachwelt 
vorzuglich gute Dienste geleistet. Schrockh, Kirchengeschichte, 
Th. xix. S. 64. 

6 Natus in territorio ejusdem Monasterii, cum essem annorum 
septem, cura propinquorum datus sum educandus reverentissimo 



II.] BEDE. 61 

spent his whole life in the unwearied exercise of 
the duties and employments of the monastic calling. 
His talents and industry enabled him to attain pro- 
digious learning. While the light of knowledge 
was almost extinguished in the rest of Europe, he 
exercised a most beneficial influence upon the in- 
tellectual condition of his countrymen. His con- 
temporaries regarded his various and extensive ac- 
quirements with astonishment and respect ; and 
before his death, which occurred in 735, he had 
gained the reputation, which he has ever retained, 
of being the most distinguished writer of his time. 
Of his numerous writings, that which possesses the 
greatest permanent value is the " Ecclesiastical 
History of the English 1 ." This work, the materials 
of which were derived from documents, from tra- 
dition, and from the personal knowledge of the au- 
thor 2 , is just what it professes to be. It is the 
history of Christianity in Britain. The first event 
which he notices is the invasion of the island by 

Abbati Benedicto, ac deinde Ceolfrido ; cunctumque ex eo tem- 
pus vitse in ejusdem Monasterii habitatione peragens, omnem 
meditandis Scripturis opetam dedi : atque inter observantiam 
discipline regularis et quotidianam cantandi in Ecclesia curam, 
semper aut discere, aut docere, aut scribere dulce habui. Hist. 
Eccles. lib. v. ad fin. p. 222. edit. Smith. 

1 Historiae Ecclesiasticse Gentis Anglorum libri v. 

2 Hasc de Historia Ecclesiastica Brittaniarum, et maxime 
gentis Anglorum, prout vel ex litteris antiquorum, vel ex tra- 
ditione majorum, vel ex mea ipse cognitione scire potui, 
Domino adjuvante digressi. Hist. Eccles. p. 222. 



62 PAULUS DIACONUS. [Chap. 

Julius Caesar, and he continues his narrative to the 
year 731. But though invaluable as an early history 
of the church of England, it has no claim to be re- 
garded as a general history of the Church. His 
" Chronicle 1 ," brief as it is, has greater pretensions 
to the character of a general history ; and at all 
events it deserves to be noticed here, as having 
been the first historical work which employed the 
calculation of the year of the birth of our Lord, 
made by Dionysius Exiguus in the sixth century, 
which has since become the common era 2 . 

I can add the name of but one Latin writer to 
this illustrious triumvirate. The history of the 
Church, as well as the political condition of Italy 
under the domination of the Lombards, is illustrated 
by the works of Paulus Diaconus. Paul Winfried, 

1 Chronicon sive de sex aetatibus saeculi. It begins with 
the creation, and ends with the year 729. It has been freely- 
copied by several later chroniclers. 

2 Dass Beda der erste gewesen ist, der in Geschichtsbuchern 
die Jahre von der Geburt Christi an, nach der Bestimmung des 
Dionysius, gerechnet hat ; dem man auch die Beschreibung 
des verlornen Dionysianischen Cyclus verdankt ; (de ratione 
tempomm, cap. 45, 47.) und durch den daher der Gebrauch 
jener Zeitrechnung in den Abendlandern eingefurht worden ist, 
wie zwo bald nach seinem Tode, im Jahr 742, gehaltene 
Kirchenversammlungen, die eine zu Clovesho in England, (in 
Harduini Actis Concilior. t. iii. p. 1917.) die andere an einem 
ungenannten Orte in Ostfranken, (ibid. pag. 1919.) welche 
sich derselben bedient haben, beweisen ; alles dieses ist schon 
von Joh. Wilh. Janus v Hist. Aerae Christ, c. 3. pag. 886. sq.) 
bemerkt worden. Schrockh, Kirchengeschichte, xix. 74, 75. 

8 



II.] PAULUS DIACONUS. 63 

a deacon of Aquileia, was the notary, or chancellor, 
of Desiderius, the last of the Lombard kings ; and, 
upon the fall of that monarch in 774, enjoyed the 
favour of the victorious Charlemagne. But his 
affection for his former master rendered him an ob- 
ject of suspicion to the conqueror. He was for 
some time an exile and a wanderer, and at last 
found a permanent residence in the monastery of 
Monte Cassino. He is entitled to the gratitude of 
posterity as having contributed, with our illustrious 
countryman Alcuin, to that remarkable revival of 
literature which distinguished the Carlovingian pe- 
riod ; and a number of historical and biographical 
works 1 , which are still extant, assert his claim to be 
regarded as an Ecclesiastical historian. 

We have hitherto found the East abundant in his- 
torical writers. From the time of Eusebius to the last 
years of the sixth century, we have been able to trace 
a succession, almost uninterrupted, of Ecclesiastical 

1 See Fabr. Bibl. Lat. Med. et Infim. JEtatis, vol. v. pp. 620 
— 634. His chief historical work is the well known history of 
the Lombards, " De gestis Langobardorum libri vi." Printed 
in the historical collections of Lindenbrogius, Grotius, and 
Muratori. But his " Gesta Episcoporum Metensium" (printed 
most correctly in the learned work of Calmet, Histoire Eccle- 
siastique et Civile de Lorraine, torn. i. Preuves, col. 51 — 60) is 
more strictly Ecclesiastical. Five books of the " Historia 
Miscella" (xii — xvi) are also due to Paul the Deacon. The 
first eleven are, for the most part, merely the compendium of 
Eutropius ; the last eight were compiled by Landulphus Sagax 
in the fourteenth century. 



64 JOANNES MALELAS. [Chap. 

historians in that branch of the Catholic Church. We 
are now to notice a state of things very different. It 
was nearly destitute of original writers of history during 
the seventh and eighth centuries. Nor is it only 
the paucity of Greek historians of which we have to 
complain. The few who wrote were utterly devoid 
of literary merit. We are hurried at once from the 
florid beauties of the time of Justinian to the rude- 
ness and sterility of the iron age of Byzantine liter- 
ature. Theophylactus Simocatta, one of the most 
able and elegant historians of the lower empire, 
was not removed by a whole generation from 
Joannes Malelas \ and the author of the Paschal 
Chronicle. The fact is so extraordinary that I 
should be disposed, with Hody 2 , to assign Malelas 

1 Joannis Antiocheni cognomento Malaise Historia Chronica. 
It commenced with the Creation ; and the Bodleian MS., from 
which it was printed, comes down to the year 566. But this 
MS. was mutilated at the beginning and at the end. The early 
part was supplied by Chilmead from the Bodleian MS. of 
Georgius Hamartolus. There are no means of determining in 
what year it concluded when entire. An account of the cir- 
cumstances attending the publication of the Oxford edition of 
Malelas, (the sole contribution which has been made by English 
scholars to the materials of Byzantine history,) is given by 
Bishop Monk in his learned and interesting life of Bentley, 
vol. i. p. 25, et seq. 

2 In the Prolegomena to the Oxford edition (No. 16 — 39) 
his arguments were answered by Cave (Hist. Lit. Ed. 1740, 
torn. i. pp. 568—570), Fabricius (Bibl. Grsec. vi. 139), Gib- 
bon (Decline and Fall, vol. vii. p. 63, note 1), and Gieseler 
(Kirchengeschichte, i. 621), concur with the learned author of 



II.J PASCHAL CHRONICLE. 65 

to the ninth century, were it not that the Paschal 
Chronicle \ which evidently belongs to the reign 
of Heraclius, sufficiently proves that history was 
written in the East by ill-informed and barbarous 
writers as early as the former part of the seventh 
century. Neither of these authors, however, affords 
us much information which we do not meet with 
elsewhere 2 . Though both, especially the latter, 
throw light on particular circumstances of Eccle- 
siastical history. 

From the time at which the Paschal Chronicle 
concludes, we meet with no Greek historian for 
upwards of an hundred and fifty years. That a civi- 
lized and polished people should, during so long an 
interval, have remained without any contemporary 
records 3 , is a fact almost unparalleled in the history 

the Historia Literaria, in supposing him to have written at the 
beginning of the seventh century. See Appendix, Note V. 

1 nacxaXtov seu Chronicon Paschale a mundo condito ad 
Heraclii Imperatoris annum vicesimum. This is the title under 
which it was published by Ducange (Paris, 1688). Before 
that time it was generally known as the Chronicon Alexandri- 
num — the title assigned by an earlier editor, the Jesuit Rader. 
Vide Fabr. Bibl. Grsec. vi. 142. 

2 Vide Ducange in Praefat. p. vii. edit. Venet. 

3 I mean of course so far only as history is concerned. The 
theological writers for more than a century later, wrote com- 
paratively well. Maximus, Anastasius the Sinaite, Andrew of 
Crete, and John of Damascus, are not to be despised even for their 
language. I should remark too that the Paschal Chronicle can 
scarcely be regarded as a history. It was rather a calendar ; 
and a large part of it was probably written as early as the time 

F 



66 DECAY OF LEARNING [Chap. 

of literature. It seems, however, to have been 
literally the case in the present instance. It is not 
that we have lost the historians of the period ; none 
appear to have existed : for modern learning has 
detected the name of scarcely a single historian 1 or 
annalist who wrote in the Greek language between 
the year 629 and the very end of the eighth century. 
Destitute, however, as we are of contemporary 
guides 2 , we are not altogether destitute of the 
materials for this period of the history of eastern 
Christendom. To illustrate the events of the seventh 
century, which is properly enough distinguished as 

of Constantius II. Ducange says, Quisquis istius Chronici 
auctor fuerit, scripsit ille non tarn Chronicon, quam Computum 
Paschalem, ut ipsemet in Praefatione, seu Syntagmate de Pas- 
chate, cujus meminimus, profitetur, vel UaaxaXiov, uti Graeci 
Ecclesiastici vocant, hoc est Canonem de celebrando Paschate. 
Prsefat. p. viii. edit. Venet. I have just seen an almanack 
for the present year, which, if produced a thousand years to 
come, would prove strange things against the English literature 
of the nineteenth century. 

1 The Pratum Spirituale (/3//3Xoe, r/ £7nyeypafXfiivrj Xeijjlojv, 
Sia to 7ro\vavdfj /3tW dirjyrjvii' Ttjg obpavoiropov (jadoviag tyepeiv,) 
of Joannes Mochus (ap. Bibl. PP. Graeco-latin. torn. ii. p. 1057 
— 1162. Cotelerii Eccles. Graec. Mon. torn. ii. p. 341 — 456), 
belongs to this period. It is a work written in imitation of the 
Lausiac History of Palladius, and is of considerable value for 
the light it throws on the Monachism of the East. 

2 The patrician Trajanus wrote a short Chronicle (xpovacbv 
avvrofiov) in the reign of Justinian II. But we know not 
whether he brought it down to his own time. See Suidas in 
Tpaiavoc, and Labbe, Protrepticon, p. 52, edit. Paris. 



II.] IN THE EASTERN EMPIRE. 67 

the age of the Monothelites, we possess many im- 
portant original documents, the acts of several 
councils *, and the works of St. Maximus and his 
disciples. But for the eighth century, which has 
been named from the Iconoclasts, our information 
is, it must be confessed, exceedingly scanty. The 
decree of the great council held at Constantinople 
in 754 against image-worship, which is preserved 
among the acts of the second council of Nice 2 , a 
few original letters, and the works of John of 
Damascus, are the only documents extant which 
illustrate the Ecclesiastical history of the reigns of 
the first Iconoclast emperors of the East 3 . And 

1 Condi, torn. vi. edit. Labbe. 

2 Concil. torn. vii. col. 396—533. 

3 It is not, therefore, at all surprising that the history of the 
first three Iconoclast emperors is encumbered with extraordi- 
nary difficulties. Whether the course which they pursued 
against image-worship was the result of conviction or caprice, 
or policy ; whether they are to be applauded, or condemned, or 
pitied ; what are the facts, what the exaggerations and embel- 
lishments of the common story, are problems which are scarcely 
capable of solution. But more might perhaps be done than has 
been done yet. It is, however, a work for which a critic is 
needed, not a disputant. Such writers as Maimbourg (Histoire 
de l'Heresie des Iconoclastes), and Natalis Alexander (Hist. 
Eccles.) on the one side, and Frederic Spanheim (Historia Hist. 
Restituta) on the other, are advocates, not historians. Walch, 
as usual, has made a noble collection of the evidence (Historic 
der Kezereien, X.) The most recent work written expressly on 
the subject, that of Schlosser (Geschichte der Bildersturmenden 
Kaiser des ostromischen Reichs, Frankfurt am Main, 1812), 

F 2 



68 GEORGIUS SYNCELLUS. JChap. 

for this latter period we have the greater reason to 
regret the want of contemporary historians, as upon 
the revival of a taste for historical composition 
among the Greeks, the history of the memorable 
transactions by which it had been distinguished, 
was written solely by bigotted Image-worshippers, 
whose prejudices and violence allow us to repose 
but little confidence on the accounts which they 
give of the principles and proceedings of their op- 
ponents. 

Georgius Syncellus was the first to break the 
long silence. This writer, who was avyKeWoQ, or 
coadjutor ! , of Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople 
(784 — 806), projected a chronological history 2 of 
the world, from the creation to the end of the 
eighth century 3 . His death prevented the comple- 
tion of his undertaking. He proceeded only as far 

has, I think, left the difficulties very much as it found them. 
It bears few remarks of originality of thought or investigation. 
The views are common-place, and the sentiments insipid. 
Should any one ever attempt the subject among ourselves, he 
should constantly remember the sneer of Gibbon — " On this 
head (i. e. image-worship) the protestants are so notoriously in 
the right, that they can venture to be impartial." — Decline and 
Fall, vol. ix. p. 118. note, edit. 1820. 

1 Goar, in his preface to the Paris edition of Georgius 
Syncellus, explains the nature of this office, and relates all that 
is known of his author. 

2 'E/cXoy?) xpovoypa<()iaQ avvTayeiaa V7r6 Tetopyiov Mova^ov 
Suy/ceWov ysyovorog Tapaatov Harpiap^ov Kwr OTavTivovKoXeiag 
a7ro 'ABa.fi /ue'xP 1 Ato/cXemayov. 

3 'And rrjg 7rpu)TOKTi(rTOv rjfxipag e(og rov icado\iKov t^aKig 



II.] THEOPHANES. 69 

as the reign of Diocletian. But he wrote enough 
to shew that it was part of his design to incorporate 
in his work the information which had been col- 
lected by preceding writers on the history of the 
Church. 

The labours of Georgius Syncellus were, in con- 
sequence of the dying request of the author \ con- 
tinued by his friend Theophanes, in a work which 
is justly regarded as one of the most important in 
the whole series of the Byzantine historians. Theo- 
phanes was himself a person of some importance in 
the Ecclesiastical history of the Eastern empire. 
His father, who was a member of a noble family, 
and had been employed in offices of trust and 
dignity by Constantine Copronymus, died while he 
was yet in his infancy. He was, therefore, educated 
under the care of his mother, and early derived 
from a domestic of the family a strong desire 
to lead an ascetic life. But his splendid fortune 
rendered it difficult for him to indulge his inclina- 
tion. Under the Iconoclast emperors to be a monk 
was to be a rebel. He was compelled to marry the 
daughter of a favoured courtier ; but the bride, 
fortunately, was not indisposed to her husband's 
views, and he gladly embraced the opportunity 
which was soon after afforded by the regency of 
Irene (781), to retire altogether from the world, 

^iXioarov rpiaKocnoarov Itovv, Iv^iktiiovoq irpiorrig. Chronographia, 
p. 3. A. edit. Venet. 
1 Appendix, Note W. 



70 THEOPHANES. [Chap. 

and employ his wealth in founding a monastery, 
As the superior of this establishment he heartily 
co-operated in the restoration of the images. The 
circumstances under which he had devoted himself 
to the monastic life, and his character for sanctity, 
procured him reputation ; and when the Iconoclasts 
again triumphed (814), he had the opportunity of 
evincing the sincerity of his principles by enduring 
persecutions which obtained for him a place in the 
Menologium, and the title of Confessor l . When 
we take into consideration the circumstances of his 
life, it would be almost unreasonable to expect to 
find in the historical writings of Theophanes either 
moderation or candour. In his Chronographia, 
which, as it has been already explained, was written 
in continuation of the work of Georgius Syncellus, 
and which extends from the beginning of the reign 
of Diocletian to the end of that of Michael Rhangabe 
(814), he makes no profession of impartiality, but 
denounces the Iconoclasts with unmeasured violence. 
For his information, however, he professes to follow 
preceding writers 2 , and his work cannot but be re- 
garded as a history of the Church. 

1 A contemporary life of St. Theophanes, and the office for 
the day (March 12) on which he is commemorated, are printed 
before his Chronographia (edit. Goar et Combefis, Paris, 1655, 
et Venet. 1 729). From these sources I have extracted the par- 
ticulars given above. The life of Theophanes Confessor in 
Hankius (de Byzantin. Scriptoribus, pp. 200 — 218) displays 
great research and learning. 

3 When he speaks of having written nothing on his own 



II.] NICEPHORUS. 71 

Nicephorus 1 , who was patriarch of Constanti- 
nople from 806 to 815, and was one of the most 
able defenders of the images, also wrote a short 
history 2 of the period between the death of Maurice 
(602) and the year 769 — a work which was ad- 
mired by Photius 3 , and of which a great part may 
be regarded as belonging to Ecclesiastical history. 
The appearance of a book which could obtain the 
praise of the great Byzantine critic, sufficiently in- 
dicates the revival of a literary taste among the 

authority, ovSev cuff kavriov avvra^avreg (see the whole passage 
in the Appendix, Note W), it is most natural to understand him 
as speaking in reference to the times beyond his own memory. 
The last forty years of his history must surely have been 
original. For the preceding times, when he had not iaropioypa- 
<j)oi (as he had for the earlier part), he had XoyoypaQot, by whom 
I understand him to mean the panegyrists of the saints, a class 
of writers that existed, as we have sufficient evidence to prove, 
even in the indolence and troubles of the seventh and eighth 
centuries. 

1 A copious account of St. Nicephorus (Junii die II. Me- 
nolag. Graec. apud Thesaur. Monum. Basnage, torn. iii. P. i. p. 
436) may be found in Hankius, ut supra, pp. 223 — 244. See 
also Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vi. 295. 

2 Tov kv ayioig Tcarpbg yjfiCov NiKrjcbopov HaTpiap^ov Kiovarav- 
tivovttoXeojq 'IcFTopia ovvTO\iog curb Trjg Mavpudov fiaffiXeiag, 
printed after the edition of Petavius, among the Byzantine his- 
torians, Paris, 1648. A chronological work of the same author 
is printed with Georgius Syncellus. 

3 "Eoti 3e rqv typaaiv cnripiTrog re, icai aa<f)r)g. KaXXiXs^la te 
ual avvdrjKr] Xoyoy ovte XeXvjiivr], ovte av ttoXip crvfJL7r£7n£afJLEPTi 
7r£piipyu)Q KE^prjjJLEPOQ' d\\' o'la av xpr/ffatTO b prfropucbg o>£ aXridHjg 
Kal teXeioq avrip. Bibl. Cod. Ixvi. 



72 PECULIAR CHARACTER OF [Chap. 

Greeks. It is a remarkable coincidence that litera- 
ture emerged about the same time in the East and 
in the West from the long eclipse of the eighth 
century. 



SECTION III. 



FROM THE DEATH OF CHARLEMAGNE, A.D. 814, TO THE PONTIFI- 
CATE OF INNOCENT III., A.D. 1198. 

NEGLECT OF THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTI- 
CAL HISTORY REFINEMENT OF THE AGE OF CHARLEMAGNE 

HAYMO OF HALBERSTADT ANASTASIUS BIBLIOTHECARIUS— - 

FLODOARD ADAM OF BREMEN SIGEBERT OF GEMBLOURS 

ORDERICUS VITALIS REVIVAL OF LITERATURE IN THE EASTERN 

EMPIRE GEORGIUS HAMARTOLUS HISTORIANS OF THE AGE 

OF PHOTIUS — SIMEON METAPHRASTES GEORGIUS CEDRENUS 

JOANNES ZONARAS EUTYCHIUS ABULPHARAGIUS. 

The farther we advance into the Middle Ages, the 
more necessary it becomes for the historian of 
Church-history implicitly to adhere to the principle 
on which he professes to regulate the selection of 
writers to whom he would direct the reader's 
notice. We have arrived at a period when the 
peculiarities which I have described as characte- 
rizing the historians of those times, become more 
and more decided. From the middle of the ninth 
century, civil and ecclesiastical history alike give 
place to the characteristic history of the period. 
Nearly all the writers were, as Schrbckh expresses 



II.] MEDIEVAL HISTORY. 73 

it, " ecclesiastics who wrote political history theolo- 
gically 1 ." I must therefore either boldly undertake 
to enumerate all who distinguished themselves by 
the composition of historical works 2 , or strictly 
confine myself to those who wrote what may pro- 
perly be called the history of the Church. I have 
the less hesitation in deciding in favour of the latter 
course presented by this alternative, as, though it 
would be at once an interesting and useful employ 
to trace the succession of the historians 3 of the 
Middle Ages, it must be confessed that they are 
more correctly regarded as being the materials of 
Church-history, than as deserving to be ranked 
themselves among the Ecclesiastical historians. 

The age of Charlemagne forms an era not more 
important in the political history of Europe, jthan 
in the progress of knowledge and civilization among 
the Teutonic nations. We have a remarkable 
proof of the extent to which literary pursuits were 
cultivated under the influence of this great man 
and his successor, in the fact that the reign of 
Louis le Debonnaire produced a work on civil, and 

1 Es sind Geistliche, welche die politische Geschichte theo- 
logisch beschrieben haben. Kirchengeschichte, i. 157. 

2 A most convenient tabular view of the principal writers, 
with a notice of the editions of their works, is furnished by a 
very useful book intituled, Direct orium Historicorum Medii 
potissimum iEvi post Marquardum Freherum et iteratas Joh. 
Dav. Koeleri curas recognovit, emendavit, auxit M. Geo. Christo. 
Hambergerus. Gottingae, 1772. 

3 Appendix, Note X. 



74 HAYMO. [Chap. 

another on Ecclesiastical, history, written in pro- 
fessed imitation of the ancient models. Eginhard, 
the accomplished secretary of Charlemagne, wrote 
a life l of his illustrious master, which has been 
pronounced to be a successful 2 imitation of Sueto- 
nius. And Haymo, bishop of Halberstadt (840 — 
853), a pupil of Alcuin, and one of the most cele- 
brated theologians of his time, compiled, from 
Eusebius and Rufinus, an Ecclesiastical history of 
the first four centuries 3 . But the refinement of 

1 Vita et Gesta Karoli cognomento Magni, Francorum regis 
fortissimi, et Germanise suae illustratoris, authorisque optirae 
meriti, per Eginhartum illius quandoque alumnum, atque scribam 
adjuratum, Germanum. For the editions, see Hamberger. Direc- 
torium Historic, p. 105, 6. The author speaks of himself with 
great modesty : — En tibi librum praeclarissimi et maximi viri me- 
moriam continentem, in quo praeter illius facta, non est quod 
admireris : nisi forte quod homo barbarus in Romana locutione 
perparum exercitatus," aliquid decenter aut commode Latine 
scribere posse putaverim, atque in tantam impudentiam pro- 
ruperim, ut illud Ciceronis putarem contemnendum, quod in 
primo Tusculanarum libro, cum de Latinis scriptoribus loque- 
retur, dixisse legitur : Mandare quenquam, inquit, Uteris cogita- 
tiones suas, quas nee disponere, nee illustrare possit, nee delec- 
tatione alxqua allicere lectorem^ hominis est intemperanter abu- 
tentis et olio et Uteris* Poterat quidem haec oratoris egregii 
sententia me a scribendo deterrere, nisi animo praemeditatum 
esset, hominum judicia potius experiri, et scribendo ingenioli 
mei periculum facere, quam tanti viri memoriam, mihi parcendo, 
praeterire. Ap. Freheri Corpus Francicae Historiae, p. 433, edit. 
1613. 

2 Appendix, Note Y. 

3 De Christianarum rerum memoria libri decern. He follows 



II.] ANASTASIUS BIBLIOTHECARIUS. 75 

the Carlovingian period was soon swept away by 
the stormy times which followed. The works of 
Eginhard and Haymo were the only attempts which 
were made in the West to revive the classical 
method of historical composition. And henceforth 
we meet with very few writers who may not be 
assigned to that middle class which I have de- 
scribed as peculiar to the times, till the rise of 
modern literature. 

Anastasius, who was librarian (bibliothecarius) 
of the Church of Rome, about the year 870, ren- 
dered no inconsiderable service to Ecclesiastical 
history, by introducing the information communi- 
cated by the Greek historians of the preceding 
period to the western church. The events of his 
life are involved in much obscurity. Indeed the 
circumstances of his personal history which we find 
recorded, appear so inconsistent with each other 1 , 
that some critics have been led to conclude that 
there were two persons of the same name, who 

hisj authority, Rufinus, in concluding with the reign of 
Theodosius I. Hie Rufinus Ecclesiasticae historiae finem 
facit ; et nos quoque finitis persecutionibus, haeresibus conso- 
pitis, fundata et extructa Ecclesia, quia post enumerationem 
tantorum Martyrum, Confessorum, Doctorum, sive Patrum, 
nihil dignius restat vel illustrius, hie cum eo suscepti operis 
compendium terminemus. Hist. Eccles. Breviar. 199, 200, 
edit. Buxhornii, Lugd. Bat. 1650. 

1 These difficulties are stated at length by Schrockh, Kir- 
chengeschichte, xxi. 160. 



76 ANASTASIUS BIBLIOTHECARIUS. [Chap. 

bore the same office in the latter years of the ninth 
century. There seems however no doubt that the 
writer with whom we are concerned, was the Anas- 
tasius Bibliothecarius, who was employed on an 
embassy sent by the Emperor Louis II. in 869, to 
negotiate a marriage for his daughter at the court 
of Constantinople. It was probably in that employ 
that he became acquainted with the writings of 
Syncellus, Theophanes, and Nicephorus, from which 
he compiled, on his return, his " Ecclesiastical 
History 1 ." Besides this important work, we still 
possess the Latin translations, which he made of a 
large number of documents 2 relating chiefly to the 
controversies with the Monothelites and the Icono- 
clasts. And though it is now generally admitted 
that he ought not to be regarded as the author of 
the whole of the work called the " Liber Ponti- 
ficalis," or Lives of the Popes 3 , which bears his 
name, he was no doubt the writer of a considerable 
portion of the collection. His works evince little 

1 Anastasii Bibliothecarii Historia Ecclesiastica, sive Chrono- 
graphia Tripertita. Edit. Caroli Annibalis Fabroti. Printed 
among the Byzantine Historians, Paris, 1649, and Venice, 1729. 
See Appendix, Note Z. 

2 They are enumerated by Fabricius, Bibl. Graec. ix. 337 — 9. 
Bibl. Lat. Med. et Infim. ^Etatis, i. 230—2. 

3 Historia de Vitis Romanorum Pontiflcum, ab Petro Apost. 
ad Nicolaum I. Opera C. A. Fabroti ; appended to the Eccles. 
Hist. But the best edition is that of Blanchini, Romse, 1718 — 
35. in four volumes folio. 



II.] THE MARTYROLOGIES. 77 

originality, and are written without purity or ele- 
gance \ but they afford sufficient proof of his 
learning and industry, and abundantly show that he 
had a right conception of what is valuable in Church- 
history. 

The Martyrologies, which were produced in such 
abundance in France and Germany during the ninth 
century, can scarcely be regarded as having contribu- 
ted to the advancement of the knowledge of Ecclesi- 
astical History, though they obviously tended to ren- 
der the clergy and laity of succeeding times familiar 
with the facts and fables which had become current 
with respect to the worthies of the early Church. Yet 
we meet with nothing else, besides what has been 

1 Multa ex Grsecis Latine vertit " rudiore plerumque stylo 
et semibarbaroj quanquam," ut Combefisius in Bibliotheca Con- 
cionatoria recte judicat, " nee ipso inutili, plerisque in medii 
illius aevi auctoribus Grsecis nobis futuris perobscuris, nisi 
lucem ille scientia quam sermone peritior, vel ita nobis reddens 
affudisset." Fabr. Bibl. Lat. Med. et Infim. .Etatis, i. 230. 

2 We still possess the Martyrologia of Floras Lugdunensis 
(ap. Acta SS. torn. ii. Martii), Wandalbertus Prumiensis (ap. 
Dacherii Spicileg. torn. ii. p. 39, edit. 1723), Rhabanus Maurus 
(ap. Thesaur. Monum. Basnage, torn. ii. pt. ii. pp. 314—352), 
Ado Viennensis (ap. Bibl. PP. torn. xvi. edit. Lugdun.), Usu- 
ardus (edit. Benedict. Paris, 1718), and Notkerus Balbulus 
(ap. Thesaur. Monum. Basnage, torn. ii. pt. iii. pp. 89 — 184), 
all of which belong to the interval between 830 and 894. The 
subject of the Martyrologies, Menologies, and Kalendars, is 
treated at length by Bolland in the General Preface to the Acta 
Sanctorum, torn. i. pp. 34 — 48, of the Venice edition of the Bol- 
landist Prefaces. 



78 FLODOARD. [Chap. 

already mentioned, which is directly connected with 
the subject of the present inquiry. The following* 
century however is still more barren. We can find 
only one writer who claims our notice. Flodoar- 
dus, or Frodoardus, a canon of the church of 
Rheims, who died in the year 966, is known to 
posterity as the author of a chronicle of his own 
time, of a work on the lives of the Popes \ and of 
a history of the church of Rheims 2 . This latter 
work is unquestionably an Ecclesiastical history. 
The importance of Rheims and its archbishops in 
the Ecclesiastical history of France, almost deprives 
it of a merely local character ; and the quantity of 
documentary matter incorporated with the narra- 
tive, shows that the writers even of the tenth 
century 3 were aware of what is required in the 
historian. 

A somewhat similar work, which was composed 
in the next century, is of a still more interesting 
nature. Adam 4 , a canon of the church of Bremen, 
(Adamus Bremensis,) about the year 1076, wrote 

1 Vitae Rom. Pontificum a Gregorio II. ad Leonem VII. ap. 
Mabillon Acta SS. Ord. Bened. Saec. iii. 

2 Historiae Remensis Ecclesiae libri iv. Auctore Flodoardo 
Presbytero et Canonico ejusdem Ecclesiae, deinde monasterii 
Remigii monacho et Abbate. Ap. Bibl. Patrum, torn. xvi. p. 
627—749, edit. 1644. 

3 Yet the tenth century produced better historians than 
Flodoard. Luitprand, bishop of Cremona, in particular, would 
have been deemed no common writer in any age. 

4 Fabr. Bibl. Lat. Med. et Infim. ^Etatis, i. 17. 

8 



II.] SIGEBERT. 79 

an " Ecclesiastical History \ containing an account 
of the propagation of Christianity in the dioceses of 
Hamburg and Bremen, and other parts of the 
north, from the time of Charlemagne to the reign 
of Henry IV.," which is justly valued for the light 
it throws on the Ecclesiastical antiquities of the 
northern parts of Europe 2 . 

The name of Sigebert 3 of Gemblours, so re- 
spectable in the eyes of Protestants, must not be 
omitted in an enumeration of the Ecclesiastical 
historians of the Middle Ages. This accomplished 
monk, who was so highly celebrated towards the 
end of the eleventh and the beginning of the 
twelfth century for his Greek and Hebrew learning, 
and his intrepid defence of the rights of the civil 
power against the usurpations of the papacy 4 , was 
also the author of a chronicle and of several pieces 

1 M. Adami Historia Ecclesiastica ; continens religionis pro- 
pagatse gesta, quae a temporibus Caroli Magni, usque ad 
Henricum IV. acciderunt, in Ecclesia tarn Hamburgensi quam 
Bremensi, vicinisque locis Septentrionalibus. 

2 Appendix, Note AA. 

s Fabr. Bibl. Lat. Med. et Infim. JEtatis, vi. 508 — 512. 
Schrockh Kirchengeschichte, xxiv. 181 — 486. 

4 One of his works in defence of the Emperor Henry IV. is 
extant. Two others seem to have perished. In the list he 
gives of his writings, he says, " Validis Patrum arguments 
respondi epistolae Hidebrandi Papas, quam scripsit ad Her- 
manum Metensem Episcopum, in potestatis regiss calumniam. 
Scripsi ad ipsum henricum Apologiam, contra eos qui calumni- 
antur Missas conjugatorum sacerdotum." De Script. Eccles. 
p. 158. 



80 ORDERICUS VITALIS. [Chap. 

of Ecclesiastical biography. But his claim to our 
notice in the prosecution of the present inquiry, is 
founded on the large addition 1 which he made to 
St. Jerome's Catalogue, which he continued on the 
plan of the ancient writers, and at greater length 
than any of the later contributors 2 . 

Our pious countryman, Ordericus Vitalis 3 , a 
native of Shropshire, and a monk in the monastery 
of St. Evroul in Normandy, is known to posterity 
as the author of an important historical work 4 . 
He gave it the name 5 of an Ecclesiastical history ; 
but by far the larger part consists of an account of 
the Norman wars in France, England, and Apulia, 
of William the Conqueror and his family, and the 
first Crusade ; and the first part 6 only, which is 
comprised in the first two books, can be described 
with any propriety as a history of the Church. 

1 Liber Sigeberti Gemblacensis Monachi de Scriptoribus 
Ecclesiasticis. Ap. Miraei Bibl. Eccles. pp. 131 — 158, edit. 
Antv. 1639. 

2 He was followed by Henricus Gandavensis (ob. 1293), and 
Honorius Augustodunensis (fl. circa 1300). 

3 Fabr. Bibl. Lat. Med. et Infim. JEtatis, v. 441—447. 

4 Orderici Vitalis Angligenae, Ccenobii Uticensis Monachi, 
Historise Ecclesiasticae libri xiii. in iii. partes divisi. Apud 
Andr. Duchesnii Historise Normannorum Scriptores Antiq. Lut. 
Paris. 1619. pp. 321—925. 

5 Appendix, Note BB. 

6 Pars prima, in qua res ab incarnatione Salvatoris usque ad 
annum mcxl. gestae, per seriem Imperatorum, Regum, atque 
Pontificum Romanorum breviter describuntur. pp. 323 — 456. 
This part of the work is of little value. 



II.] AGE OF PHOTIUS. 81 

At the close of the last section we noticed the 
dawn of a revival of literature in the Eastern em- 
pire. The promise afforded by the commencement 
of the century was fully accomplished by the age of 
Photius, the most brilliant period of Byzantine 
learning. The example of this illustrious scholar 1 , 
while it defied emulation, could not but have ex- 
tensive influence. His efforts were well supported 
by the government. His friend, the Csesar Bardas, 
the uncle and minister of Michael III., warmly en- 
couraged learning : Basil, the first of the Macedo- 
nian emperors, was also a patron of letters ; his son 
and his grandson were themselves authors. The 
languid industry of the Greeks was warmed into 
new activity by the genial rays of imperial favour. 
But it was the court 2 , not the clergy, which com- 
municated the impulse in this intellectual move- 
ment. And accordingly, though civil history was 
cultivated not only by the extensive compilations 

1 The life of Photius is minutely illustrated by Hankius (de 
Byzant. Scriptoribus, pp. 269 — 396) ; and the able sketch of 
the history of Byzantine literature presented by the last pages 
of the fifty-third chapter of Gibbon, teems with the learning 
and prejudices which form the glory and the disgrace of the 
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. 

2 A large proportion of the Byzantine scholars of this and 
the following ages were laymen. The circumstance deserves 
to be noticed ; as it establishes the important fact, that the 
educated laity among the Greeks were in no way more exempt 
from the faults and weaknesses of the times, than the ec- 
clesiastics. 



82 AGE OF PHOTIUS. [Chap. 

which were superintended by Constantine Porphy- 
rogenitu \ but by the composition of several original 
works 2 , little was written expressly on the history 
of the Church. The Chronicle 3 of Georgius Ha- 
martolus, which bears more of the Ecclesiastical 
character than any historical work which appeared 
after the first years of the ninth century, was written 
by one who had not been affected by the spirit of 
his time. And the monographies of Photius 4 , 
Petrus Siculus 5 , and Nicetas Paphlago 6 , belong 

1 Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vi. 490. 

2 Most of those which have been printed are contained in 
Combefis's Scriptores post Theophanem. Leo Grammaticus, 
Josephus Genesius, and other writers, have also been pub- 
lished. But the historians of this period are pronounced by 
Scylitzes to be greatly inferior to their predecessors. Ap. 
Bibl. Coislin. p. 208. 

3 XpoviKov avvTOfiov etc dia(j)6p(ov xpovoypa(b<ov re kcll efyyrjTwv 
avWeyey, teal avvredev vrro Teiopylov 'AfiaprioXov fiova^ov. 
It has never been printed ; but Hody says (Prolegomena ad 
Joannem Malalam, num. xli.) that it comes down to the end of 
the reign of Michael III., a.d. 866. Several MSS. are still 
in existence. Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vi. 155. I owe all I know of 
it to Leo Allatius. Diatriba de Georgiis, apud Fabr. Bibl. 
Graec. torn. x. p. 641 — 650. 

4 Narratio de Manichaeis recens repullulantibus. Ap. Bibl. 
Coislin. pp. 349 — 375. Wolfii Anecdota Graeca, torn. i. pp. 1 
—141. Gallandii Bibl. PP. torn. xiii. 

5 Petri Siculi Historia, edit. Rader. Ingolstadii, 1604. I 
have said more of these works of Photius and Petrus Siculus 
elsewhere. Letter to the Rev. S. R. Maitland on the Opinions 
of the Paulicians, p. 23, et seq. 

6 Vita S. P. N. Ignatii Archiep. CPolitani. Ap. Concil. 



II.] SIMEON METAPHRASTES. 88 

as much to polemics as to history. We should 
have had little cause to regret that Church-history 
was neglected by an age which was unable to ap- 
preciate moral dignity and beauty ; but we may 
justly complain, when what was done for this branch 
of knowledge directly tended to deteriorate and 
pervert it. The simple and often uncouth biogra- 
phies which communicated to the Church the vir- 
tues and sufferings of her worthies, were despised 
by a people who had less regard for truth than for 
the laboured affectation of an artificial rhetoric. In 
the early part of the tenth century 1 , Simeon Meta- 

tom. viii. col. 1180 — 1260. Some other pieces printed with 
the acts of the eighth Council, illustrate the Ecclesiastical 
history of the ninth century, or rather exhibit the views and 
principles of the Anti-Photian party. Hankius (p. 251 — 269) 
has done the authors the honour of ranking them among the 
Byzantine historians. 

1 The quality and age of Simeon Metaphrastes have been 
subjects of much controversy. Schrockh (Kirchengeschichte, 
xxviii. 187 — 192) adopts the opinion of Oudinus and the 
earlier Protestant critics, in thinking him to have been an ec- 
clesiastic, and to have lived at all events as late as the twelfth 
century. On the other hand, Hankius (de Script. Byzant. 
pp. 418—460), Cave (Hist. Lit. ad an. 901), Fabricius (Bibl. 
Graec. vi. 509. ix. 48, not. b), and Gieseler (Lehrbuch der 
Kirchengeschichte, 2 Bd. 1 Abtheil. S. 349), and all the 
Roman Catholic writers since the middle of the seventeenth 
century, follow Leo Allatius in regarding him as a layman of 
high rank, who wrote in the reigns of Leo Sapiens and Constan- 
tinus Porphyrogenitus. The evidence appears to me greatly to 
preponderate in favour of the latter opinion. 

g2 



84 SIMEON METAPHRASTES. [Chap. 

phrastes 1 was employed by the emperor 2 to re- 
write, in a popular and attractive manner, the lives 
of the Saints and Martyrs. He executed his com- 
mission by compiling" from the ancient narratives a 
number of laboured and ostentatious panegyrics, 
contemptible for their false taste, and noxious for 
the fabulous circumstances and superstitious opi- 
nions which he has interwoven 3 with the original 

1 He derives this surname from the nature of his works. 
Scriptiones sive ab ipso, sive ab aliis vocatae sunt Metaphrases. 
.... Dictae quod ex una phrasi, dicendique modo in alium 
delatae sunt. Hinc ipse postea sub Metaphrastae nomen pos- 
teris innotuit. Leonis Allatii de Simeonum Scriptis Diatriba, 
p. 73. 

2 <J>a<r/ ye tol firjfie etc napepyov tovtov rjtydai rov irpayfiaroQ, 
[ir)()e avrov irpoQefievov, el /i>; oaov fiovXeadai' ~Baai\eiot £e tovtov 
7rapaic\ricr£tc eVt tovto 7rpo{]veyt:av, teal oig ecppovTi^ero \6yog ical 
aureate. Pselli Metaphrastis Laudatio, ap. L. Allat. ut supra, 
p. 233. 

3 Bellarmine, in his work " de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis," 
says, " Illud autem observandum, a Metaphraste scriptas fuisse 
Historias de Vitis Sanctorum multis additis ex proprio ingenio, 
non ut res gestae fuerant, sed ut geri potuerant : addit enim 
Metaphrastes multa colloquia, sive dialogos Martyrum cum 
persecutoribus, aliquas etiam conversiones adstantium pagan- 
orum in tanto numero, ut incredibiles videantur. Denique 
miracula plurima, et maxima in eversione Templorum, et Idol- 
orum, quorum nulla est mentio apud Veteres Historicos." The 
candour of the great controversialist sadly scandalizes Bolland 
(Praefat. General, in Acta SS. cap. i. § iii. torn. i. Januarii), and 
Leo Allatius (ut supra, p. 43, et seq.), whose appetite for 
legendary story was much too keen to allow them to give up 
the wonders of the Metaphrast without a struggle. But we 



II.] JOANNES SCYLITZES. 85 

materials. His ill-employed labour inflicted on 
Church-history is a deep and lasting injury ; for the 
compositions, which were written in accordance 
with the feelings and notions of the day, soon super- 
seded the less obtrusive works, which possessed a 
really historic value. The greater part of the lives 
of the Eastern saints, which have come down to us, 
have unfortunately passed through the hands of 
Simeon or his imitators : and it is now too often 
the chief business of the Ecclesiastical critic to dis- 
tinguish between the evidence of the ancient bio- 
graphers and the fables of the Metaphrast l . 

The Eastern empire, during the tenth and eleventh 
centuries, afforded few subjects of Ecclesiastical 
history. The intrigues of the court and the move- 
ments of the barbarians alone attracted the notice 
of the annalist ; and accordingly we find that 
Joannes Scylitzes, an officer of high rank in the 
imperial household, who about the year 1 057 wrote 
a continuation 2 of Syncellus and Theophanes, has 

may only blush or sigh^at the weaknesses of such men. The 
latter especially ought not to be mentioned by the student of the 
later Greek Ecclesiastical history but with respect and grati- 
tude. That admirably learned, but prejudiced and violent, 
writer, has shown in his Diatriba de Simeonibus, and his other 
similar works, what genius and erudition can do for the most 
unpromising subjects. In the hands of Leo Allatius, a cata- 
logue becomes a history. 

1 Appendix, Note CC. 

1 His Compendium Historiarum (SvvoxpiQ 'Iffropuov) ex- 
tending from 811 to 1057, has been printed only in a Latin 



86 GEORGIUS CEDRENUS. [Chap. 

much less claim than his predecessors to be ranked 
among the Ecclesiastical historians. The work 1 of 
Georgius Cedrenus, a monk who wrote at the 
same period, contains indeed much Ecclesiastical 
information : but he cannot be regarded as an inde- 
pendent writer, for he does but transcribe for the 
most part the very words of Syncellus, Theophanes, 
and Scylitzes. 

The age of the Comneni, which witnessed another 
revival of a literary spirit in the Eastern empire, 
was not more productive than the period we have 
just reviewed, of works expressly written on the 
history of the Church. Distinguished for his know- 
ledge of canonical law, and other subjects of an 
Ecclesiastical nature, was Joannes Zonaras ; who, 
after having enjoyed high secular dignities, was in- 
version (see Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vi. 387) ; but the supplement 
which he wrote at a later period of his life, and which comes 
down to 1081, is printed in the original with Georgius Cedre- 
nus ; — Paris, 1647 ; Venice, 1729. The preface of the larger 
work, also, is printed in Montfaucon's Bibliotheca Coisliniana, 
p. 207, 208. It is of importance, as it enumerates, and, as I 
have already observed (p. 82), reviews somewhat superciliously 
the historians who had written since the time of Theophanes. 

1 'Evvo\piQ 'larroptwv. The extent to which this work is a 
compilation is quite curious. It might be thought from the 
words of the introduction, Trpoadevreg kcu ova aypatywg Ik 7ra- 
Xcuwv avdpwv khilayQriiitv, that there must be some original 
matter ; but these very words, with almost all the preface, are 
transcribed from Scylitzes, ap. Bibl. Coislin. ut supra. There 
are, however, some passages which are not borrowed from the 
three writers I have mentioned. 



II.] EUTYCHIUS. 87 

duced by severe domestic afflictions 1 to exchange 
the court for the monastery, and employed his 
leisure in historical composition. We still possess 
his Chronicle 2 , extending from the creation to the 
year 1118, which carefully records the principal 
facts of Church-history. But though he deserves 
mention, as having contributed to keep up a general 
acquaintance with the subject, it must be confessed 
that he has scarcely a greater claim to our notice 
than several other writers whose works occur in the 
long series of the Byzantine historians. 

I may here remark, that the Christians of the 
East, who lived beyond the limits of the empire, 
did not entirely neglect historical pursuits. In their 
cruel bondage to the Moslem conquerors they oc- 
casionally contributed to the knowledge of Church- 
history. Two writers especially deserve to be men- 
tioned. The one, Said Ebn-Batrich, more generally 
known by his Greek name, Eutychius 3 , who was 

1 Ovrit) to. Kad' ypag oiKOPop^ffavTog tov vnep rjfiag, e7rei$rj tovq 
htapovg fxov Biippt]^e, tojp (piXraTiou areprjcrag [ie, olg olSev exelvog 
Xoyoig, aXyeivwg pev spot, avfi^epovrug <T opuyg, are the beautiful 
and touching words in which he describes them, p. 1. 

lioavvov tov ^Agk^tov tov iMvapa yeyovoTog tov /xeyaXov 
Apovyyaplov ttjc BtyXag, kcli HpioToaariicpriTig XpovtKov. The 
Paris edition is due to the illustrious Du Cange. 

3 Huic a natalibus nomen fuit Said Ebn-Batrich, sive Said 
jilius Patricii, qui Patriarcha factus Eutychius maluit nominari, 
cum Said Arabice idem significet quod Eutychius Graece et 
Latine Fortunatus. Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, torn. ii. 
col. 476. The Melchites affected Greek in every thing. Thus 



88 EUTYCHIUS. [Chap. 

Melchite, or orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, from 
933 to 940, has handed down, in his " Annals 1 ," 
some curious traditional notices of the early history 
of his Church, and has communicated much im- 
portant contemporary information. The other, Gre- 
gorius Ben-Hebrseus 2 , or Abulpharagius ( «<^v ]At)> 
does not properly belong to the period included in 
this section. He was an ecclesiastic of high rank 
among the Syrian Jacobites, who wrote his " History 
of the Dynasties 3 " towards the end of the thirteenth 

fondly perpetuaiing the memory of their ancient connection 
with the empire. 

1 " Annales ab Orbe condito ad annum usque 940 ;" written 
in Arabic. Selden first edited a small portion of it with the 
title, " Eutychii Patr. Alexandrini Ecclesiae suae Origines, 
Londini, 1642." The whole was edited by Pocock, Oxon. 
1659. See Appendix, Note DD. 

2 His father was a converted Jew, and he himself was Maphri- 
an, or primate of the east. Le Q,uien, Oriens Christ, torn. ii. col* 
1412. Gregorius Bar-hebraeus, qui et Abulpharagius, script- 
orum Jacobitarum facile princeps, patria Melitensis, patre 
Aaron medico, anno Grsecorum 1537. Christi 1226, natus est, 
ex quo Bar-hebraei, hoc est Hebraei filii cognomentum traxit. 
Assemani, Bibl. Oriental, torn. ii. cap. xlii. p. 244. 

3 It was first introduced to the public by the " Specimen 
Historiae Arabum" (Oxon. 1650) of Pocock ; who afterwards 
edited the whole ; " Historia Compendiosa Dynastiarum," 
Oxon. 1663. These however both exhibited only the text of 
the Arabic translation, which Abulpharagius made of his own 
work. The first part of the original Syriac was printed from a 
Bodleian MS. at Leipsic, in 1789, and very copious extracts from 
the remainder are given by Assemani. Bibl. Oriental, torn. ii. 
cap. xlii. pp. 244 — 463. 



II.J ABULPHARAGIUS. 89 

century. His work is deservedly esteemed for the 
facts which it has preserved, respecting the nations 
of the East ; and it is especially valuable to the 
student of Church-history, on account of the infor- 
mation which it affords respecting the various sects 
of Oriental Christians. 



SECTION IV. 

FROM THE PONTIFICATE OF INNOCENT III., A.D. 1198, TO THE 
REFORMATION, A.D. 1517. 

MARCH OF INTELLECT SCHOLASTICISM NICEPHORUS CALLISTI 

BARTHOLOMEW OF LUCCA ANTONINUS OF FLORENCE THE 

REVIVAL OF CLASSICAL LITERATURE LAURENTIUS VALLA 

PLATINA TRITHEMIUS ALBERT KRANTZ THE HARBINGERS 

OF THE REFORMATION. 

In spite of the prejudices which a fastidious affecta- 
tion and an indiscriminating ignorance have thrown 
in the way of a fair estimate of the true character 
of the middle ages, it has generally been acknow- 
ledged that a new state of things had commenced 
at the beginning of the thirteenth century; and 
that, thenceforth, the social and literary condition 
of Europe rapidly tended towards the forms pre- 
sented by modern society. The crusades aroused the 
imagination, and the universities awakened the spirit 
of speculation ; and the very same era witnessed 
the first efforts of the Troubadours and the School- 



90 SCHOLASTICISM. [chap. 

men. Art was powerfully affected by the same 
impulse. The architects, whose vocation it was to 
express the feelings of the times, almost simul- 
taneously abandoned the stern and massive forms 
which suitably represented the severe spirit of the 
earlier system, for lighter and more imaginative in- 
ventions ; and reared first the chaste and elegant 
fabrics which charm us by their simple beauty, and 
then those sublime and gorgeous piles which over- 
power us at once by magnificence of design and 
exuberance of ornament. The political changes 
which were the consequences of the altered cha- 
racter of the period, reacted in accelerating the in- 
tellectual development. As the feudal aristocracy 
gave way before the power of the sovereign and the 
many, superior minds in every rank were able 
readily to find a congenial employ, and Western 
Europe rapidly proceeded towards general refine- 
ment. 

But the very nature of the new pursuits, fasci- 
nating and engrossing as they were, tended to delay 
for a while the improvement of those which had 
exercised the industry of earlier times. History 
therefore was still only the chronicle ; — ecclesias- 
tical history was not yet again treated as a separate 
branch of knowledge. The doctors of the time 
were almost exclusively engaged in the active cul- 
tivation of the scholastic theology ; and in the 
illustration and perversion of Christian doctrine, 
the schoolmen, as it is well known, followed the 

8 



II.] NICEPHORUS CALLISTI. 91 

logical method, to the absolute neglect of historical 
inquiry. 

The most important work on the general history 
of the Church, which appeared during the period 
on which we have now entered, proceeded from 
the east. And it is a remarkable fact, that the 
latter days of the Byzantine empire should have 
produced a longer work, and one constructed with 
a stricter reference to the original principles of 
Ecclesiastical history, than any which had been 
written on the subject, either in the east or west, 
since the end of the sixth century. The work 1 to 
which I allude, is that of Nicephorus Callisti 
Xanthopuli. We know nothing of the circum- 
stances of his life, except the few particulars which 
are furnished by his writings. He tells 2 us that 
he was brought up in the church of St. Sophia, 
where he enjoyed the use of an extensive library ; 
and the dedication of his work to the emperor 
Andronicus Palseologus the elder, who died in 1327, 
shows that it could not have been published later 

1 N LKr)(j)6pov KaWlcrrov tov Savdo7rov\ov 'E/c^X^friaortJCT/G 
'laropiag Bi/3\/a irj ' . Edit. Frontonis Ducsei, Lut. Paris. 1630. 
In two volumes folio. A Latin version by Jo. Langus, was 
printed at Basil as early as 1553. But this is the only edition 
of the Greek text, which was printed from a manuscript (sup- 
posed to be the only one in existence) which belonged to the 
king of Hungary, and after having been carried by the Turks 
to Constantinople", at last came into the imperial library at 
Vienna. See Fabr. Bibl. Grsec. vi. 131. 

2 Appendix, Note EE. 



92 NICEPHORUS CALLISTI. [Chap. 

than the early part of the fourteenth century. He 
began his Ecclesiastical history at the age of five 
and thirty \ Each of the eighteen books of which 
it consists, commences with one of the letters which 
compose his name. (NiKr^opoc KaXXicrrou.) In the 
form in which we possess it, it extends from the 

Incarnation (cnro tt)Q Kara aapKa tov Swrripoc £7rc- 

<j>avsiag) to the death of Phocas (610). But he 
gives us in his preface the arguments of Hyg books 
more, which would have brought it down to the 
year 911. And he further intimates that his plan 
would not be completed till it was brought down 
nearly to his own time 2 . There is, however, no 
evidence that he ever fully executed his design. 
We probably possess all that he accomplished. It 
is evident from his remarks 3 , that he was himself 
aware that the difficulties of his undertaking would 
increase when he lost the guidance of preceding- 
historians, and would have to collect materials for 
his narrative entirely from documents and memoirs. 
The manner in which he has executed what he 
actually performed, makes us regret that he did 
not proceed further. Though he amply partook of 

1 Niot OVTEQ >//X£t£ *-' a * JU//7TW EKTOV KO.I TpidKOffTOV TYfQ r]\lKiag 

em/javTeg eviavrov, fjviica rfj 7rpayfxarEta eclvtovq EicSedwicafiEv, 
to ■KOOKelfxevov SirjvvactfXEv. Eccles. Hist. lib. i. cap. i. p. 43. B. 

2 Etra kcl\ ova rw fXEra ravra Trapa\E\£ nrrat X9° v< t J 71 " oo(tQe~ivch. 
fiaka fttncro^xai ' fjLiKpov avwdEv tov ko.6' rj/jidg fiiov tyjv laropiav 
^La-KEpaiviov. Lib. i. cap. i. p. 37, A. 

3 Appendix, Note FF. 



II.] BARTHOLOMEW OF LUCCA. 93 

the superstition of the age in which he lived, and 
paraphrased the writers from whom he derived his 
information in the affected and extravagant style 
characteristic of the later Greeks 1 , he has transmit- 
ted some important facts, of which we should, 
without him, have remained in ignorance. He was 
eloquent, diligent, and inquisitive, though destitute 
of judgment and discrimination ; and the critics 
have significantly marked the opinion they have 
entertained of his labours, by calling him, for the 
elegance of his style, the ecclesiastical Thucydides, 
and for his credulity, the theological Pliny 2 . 

During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, 
the intellect of western Europe was almost ex- 
clusively exercised in the pursuits to which I have 
already referred ; and the work of the Italian Do- 
minican, Bartholomew of Lucca 3 , appears to have 

1 Fabr. Bibl. Graec vi. 131. Nicephorus Callisti was the 
last Greek writer of Ecclesiastical History. But the works of 
Nicetas Choniates, Georgius Pachymeres, Joannes Cantacu- 
zenus, Nicephorus Gregoras, Georgius Codinus, and others 
which are printed in the Corpus Hist. Byzant., all throw more 
or less light on the history of the eastern church from the Latin 
conquest in 1204, to the extinction of the empire (1453). The 
documentary and other materials are also abundant. A con- 
siderable accession to what had been printed before, has been 
furnished, within the last few years, in the Scriptorum Veterum 
Nova Collectio (Romae, 1825—33) of Mai, and the Anecdota 
Graeca (Parisiis 1829 — 33) of Boissonade. 

2 Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vi. 130. 

3 Ptolomaei Lucensis Ordinis Praedicatorum Episcopi postea 
Torcellani Historia Ecclesiastica a Nativitate Christi usque ad 



94 ANTONINUS. [Chap. 

been the only one * which under the title of an 
Ecclesiastical history, professed to record the for- 
tunes of the Church. The succeeding century 
commenced under circumstances more favourable 
to the cultivation of Church-history. The contro- 
versies with Wicliff and Huss, and the councils 
of Constance, Basil, and Florence, led the more 
inquiring minds to the study of Christian antiquity. 
Scholasticism had lost the charm of novelty, and 
was no longer animated by the power of living- 
genius. So strong became the demand for Ecclesias- 

annura mcccxii. Nunc primum edita a duobus MStis codicibus 
Ambrosiano et Patavino. Accedunt diversa duorum continu- 
atorum additamenta ex iisdem codicibus depromta. Apud 
Muratorii Rerum Italicarum Scriptores. Tom. xi. pp. 741 — 
1242. All that is known of the author may be found in 
Muratori's preface, p. 743 — 750. His work is strictly an 
Ecclesiastical history, arranged chiefly in the form of annals ; 
but the later books notice almost exclusively the transactions 
affecting the Popes and the states of Italy. It is written in a 
rude style, but it deserves attention as the first attempt which 
was made in the West to restore the distinction between civil 
and Ecclesiastical history. I have transcribed a passage of 
some length, in which the author describes his object and 
materials, in the Appendix, Note FF.* 

1 The general neglect of Ecclesiastical history strikingly 
appears in the Golden Legend which was compiled by Jacobus 
de Voragine (Giacomo di Viraggio), a Dominican who was 
Archbishop of Genoa from 1292 to 1298, at the end of the 
thirteenth century. It is a memorable illustration of the igno- 
rance and superstition which were propagated by the craft and 
fanaticism of the Mendicants. 



II.] REVIVAL OF CLERICAL LITERATURE. 95 

tical information, that one of the last of the eminent 
schoolmen was led to stoop from speculation to fact, 
and attempt to supply the public appetite for his- 
torical information. This writer was Antoninus, 
a Dominican friar, who was raised to the archiepis- 
copal see of Florence in the year 1446, and who 
enjoyed such a high reputation for sanctity, that he 
has been canonized. His Sum of History (Summa 
Hystorialis) extends from the creation to the year 
1459, and is the largest historical work which was 
written during the Middle Ages '. It has been 
repeatedly printed in three large folio volumes ; of 
which the first concludes with the reign of Constan- 
tine, the second with the pontificate of Innocent 
III., and the third comes down to the year of the 
writer's death. Its magnitude is not the only cir- 
cumstance for which it is remarkable. It displays 
a spirit of research, and a taste for historical investi- 
gation hitherto almost unknown in the West ; and 
though completely superseded by the works written 
in the following century, it deserves to be regarded 
as a work of considerable importance in the pro- 
gress of Ecclesiastical history. 

But Antoninus had been brought up under a 

1 The edition I have consulted is that of Nuremburg, 1484 ; 
but Fabricius (Bibl. Lat. Med. et Infim. JEtatis, i. 313) men- 
tions nine others ; and I learn from Dr. Gieseler, that it was 
printed in an edition of his works at Florence, 1741. Lehrbuch 
der Kirchengeschichte, Bd. 2. Abth. 4. S. 1. 



96 LAURENTIUS VALLA. [Chap. 

state of things which was now rapidly passing 
away. The fifteenth century is in many respects 
the most memorable period in the history of litera- 
ture. It was an age of transition and revolution, 
combining in itself several of the most striking 
characteristics of the two states of society between 
which it forms the interval. The ancient literature 
was suddenly roused from its long slumber. Ani- 
mated by the spirit of communities which were still 
in the vigour of their existence, and consequently 
uniting the energy and enthusiasm of romanticism, 
with the grace and dignity of the classical schools, 
it proudly entered upon its new vocation, and with 
the help of the newly invented art of Printing, 
rapidly achieved a complete and signal triumph over 
the native literature of the German nations. The 
excitement was universal ; every department of 
knowledge felt its influence; and very few felt it 
earlier than Church-history K 

The Italian scholars were the first to apply the 
new learning to Ecclesiastical subjects. Laurentius 
Valla 2 , justly celebrated as one of the most learned 

1 Our own countrymen have done much to illustrate the 
literary condition of this period. To the names of Hody (De 
Graecis Illust.), and Roscoe (Lorenzo de' Medici), we may now 
add that of Mr. Hallam (Hist, of Literature). 

2 Laurentii Vallensis, Patritii Romani, de falso credita et 
ementita Constantini Donatione Declamatio. It was written 
about the middle of the fifteenth century, and first printed in 



II.] PLATINA. 97 

and active among the scholars who contributed to 
the revival of the study of classical antiquity, de- 
serves our notice as undoubtedly the earliest writer 
who employed the principles of modern criticism in 
the elucidation of facts of Ecclesiastical history. 
His " Declamation on the pretended Donation of 
Constantine," which was written about the middle 
of the fifteenth century to disprove the authenticity 
of that famous fabrication, may be considered as 
marking an era in the progress of Church-history* 
It is a work, which, considering the time when it 
was written, must be regarded as doing honour to the 
acuteness and courage of the accomplished author, 
and which evinces the existence of a strong dis- 
position to examine the claims of the Ecclesiastical 
authorities in the light furnished by a knowledge 
of antiquity. The boldness with which Valla ex- 
posed the encroachments of the Popes, is the more 
remarkable from the contrast which it presents to 
the timid caution with which the most sceptical of 
his countrymen have generally avoided an open col* 
lision with the spirituality. 

The well-known work 1 of Bartholomseus Platina 

1517. The importance of this work has induced me to tran- 
scribe a passage of some length. It occurs near the beginning, 
and is a fair specimen of the author's tone and principles. 
Appendix, Note GG. 

1 B. Platinae Crertionensis Opus, de Vitis ac Gestis Sum-- 
morum Pontificum ad Sixtum IV. Pont* Max. deductum. 
Fideliter a litera ad literam denuo impressum, secundum duo 

H 



98 PLATINA. [Chap. 

on " the Lives and Actions of the Popes," though 
written in the court of Rome by one who had felt 
the power and enjoyed the favour of successive pon- 
tiffs ', breathes, upon the whole, a spirit of freedom. 
It was the first historical work written upon an 
Ecclesiastical subject, after the revival of letters, in 
a correct and elegant Latinity, and though it dis- 
plays no great research, is often inaccurate, and in 
the latter part expresses the affection and resent- 
ment of the author so openly, as greatly to weaken 
its credibility, was certainly a step in the progress of 
Ecclesiastical history. 

A classical style of composition was as yet almost 
confined to Italy, and the scholars of the north who 
contributed to the cultivation of Church-history, 
were content to express themselves in language 
which Southern refinement had already denounced 
as barbarous. Their labours were not, however, of 
less importance. We are able to trace among them 
the gradual increase of a disposition to confine 
Ecclesiastical history within its ancient and proper 

Exemplaria, quorum unum fuit vivente adhuc auctore, anno 
mcccclxxix. alterum anno mdxxix. Few books have been 
more frequently printed : this is the title of the very neat 
edition of 1645. 

1 He was patronized by Pius II., treated with great severity 
by Paul II., and made librarian of the Vatican by Sixtus IV. 
He was born in 1421, and died in 1481 . Fabr. Bibl. Lat. Med. 
et Infim. JEtatis, torn. v. 888. Schrockh, Kirchengeschichte, 
Th. xxxii. S". 326—335. 



II.] TRITHEMIUS. 99 

limits. The learned and laborious John of Trit- 
tenheim, better known by his latinized name 
Trithemius \ who was abbot of Spanheim in 1483, 
and died abbot of Wurtzburg in 1518, is amply 
entitled to the gratitude of those who feel interested 
in this branch of knowledge. His " Annals of the 
Monastery of Hirschau 2 ," and other similar works, 
are noble monuments of industry and learning ; and 
his " Catalogue of the Ecclesiastical Writers" fur- 
nished the foundation of the attempts of more 
modern scholars to illustrate the literary history 3 
of the Church. About the same period another 

1 Fabr. Bibl. Lat. Med. et Infim. JEtatis, torn. iv. p. 451— 
469. 

2 Appendix, Note HH. 

3 Non indictus nrihi inter tot Joannes prsetereundus est 
Joannes Trithemius, cui mecum tam multa debent et debebunt, 
quotquot Historiam litterariam post eum tractare vel aggredi- 
entur vel aggressi sunt. Hie nobis Gesnerum dedit, cujus 
Bibliothecae, liber Trithemii de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis totus 
insertus, primas lineas duxisse merito est existimandus. Ejus 
Viri tot sunt etiam in Historian! Civilem et Ecclesiasticam, Ger- 
maniae prsesertim nostras merita, ut grati hoc eum animi officium 
praestare velim libenter, scriptorumque ejus notitiam plenius 
atque accuratius tradere. Fabr. ut supra, p. 451. The title of 
my copy of this work of Trithemius is; — De Scriptoribus Eccle- 
siasticis. Disertissimi viri Johannis de Trittenhem abbatis Span- 
hemensis de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis collectanea : additis 
nonnullorum ex recentioribus vitis et nominibus : qui scriptis 
suis hac nostra tempestate clariores evaserunt. Parrhisiis, 1512. 
This according to Fabricius is the third edition. The first was 
printed at Mentz in 1494. 

h2 



100 ALBERT KRANTZ. [Chap. 

learned German too, Albert Krantz \ who was 
dean of Hamburg at the beginning of the sixteenth 
century, and died in 1517, distinguished himself by 
his historical labours. His " Metropolis 2 ," which 
is an Ecclesiastical history of the north of Germany, 
from the reign of Charlemagne to his own time, 
and his other works on Ecclesiastical subjects, con- 
tain much valuable information, and are remarkable 
for giving expression 3 to the spirit which was now 
soon to produce the Reformation. 

The eminent men who exercised the greatest in- 
fluence in the intellectual revolution of the fifteenth 
century, were more employed in recovering and 
illustrating the ancient authors, than in the compo- 
sition of original works. The learned Greeks and 
Italians who bore so great a part in the revival of 
classical literature, indirectly, indeed, rendered im- 
portant service to the cause of Church-history. And 

1 Fabr. Bibl. Lat. Med. et Infim. Mt&tis, torn. i. p. 104. 

2 Alberti Krantzii, Rerum Germanicarum Historici clarissimi, 
Ecclesiastica Historia, sive Metropolis. Francofuiti, 1590. 
Appendix, Note II. 

3 Er erkennt in mehrern Stellen seiner Schriften die gewaltige 
Ausartung der Bischofe von ihrer ersten Bestimmung ; tadelt 
die Lebensart der weltlichen (secularium) Canonicorum mit 
Heftigkeit; giebt zu verstehen, dass die ungeheure Macht 
der Papste, auch in weltlichen Angelegenheiten, von neuerm 
Ursprunge sey, und ist mit dem aberglaubischem Religions- 
carimoniel nicht zufrieden. Schrockh, Kirchengeschichte, Tli. 
xxx. S. 349. 



II.] HARBINGERS OF THE REFORMATION. 101 

the theological scholars of the next generation, such 
as Erasmus and Vives, who were so influential in 
directing their contemporaries to patristical studies, 
more immediately contributed to the same object. 
But it was their business to clear the ground, and 
collect materials, for their successors. The effect 
of their editorial and critical labours was soon ap- 
parent. They laid the axe to the root of the cor- 
ruptions of the Church, and prepared the way for an 
unbounded liberty of discussion. The study of the 
materials of Church-history, which had been so 
greatly facilitated by the exertions of these eminent 
men, essentially contributed to break the spell 
which the see of Rome had laid upon the public 
mind. The usurped power of the Popes had indeed 
been greatly impaired by a century and a half of 
intrigue, disorder, and schism. The time when an 
Ecclesiastical monarchy could exercise a salutary 
influence had passed away. The Romish system 
had exchanged ambition and the love of rule, the 
vices of the age of maturity, for avarice and jealousy, 
the passions characteristic of decay. Its tyranny 
had made it terrible, its exactions made it hateful \ 
its corruptions, which were rudely exposed 2 by the 

1 The spirit which prevailed so remarkably in the great 
councils of the beginning of the fifteenth century, was never ex- 
tinguished. Germany was from the first conspicuous in its 
opposition to the Papal exactions. Appendix, Note JJ. 

2 Appendix, Note KK. 



102 HARBINGERS OF THE REFORMATION. [Chap. II. 

buoyant spirit of youthful literature, made it con- 
temptible. And it now required only a well-directed 
effort to lay in ruins the mighty fabric which had 
been reared and maintained by the incessant labour 
of a thousand years. 



CHAPTER III 



FROM THE REFORMATION TO THE PRESENT TIME, 



SECTION I. 

from 1517 to 1667. 

effects of the reformation m- f. illyricus — cataudgus 

testium — magdeburg centuries baronius — effects of 

THE CENTURIES AND THE ANNALS— ^OSIANDER BZOVIUS 

SPONDANUS RAYNALDUS EPITOMISTS OF BARONIUS GODEAU 

' HOTTINGER. 

The agencies which had been long in operation at 
length produced the great catastrophe, and the 
illustrious Saxon, in a voice of thunder, denounced 
the corruptions of the Church. The revolutions 
which had hitherto affected the condition of Christ- 
ianity, however important, appear positively insig- 
nificant, when compared with the wonderful con- 
vulsion which j-ent half Europe from the ancient 
system, and gave birth to a new style of thought 
and feeling in the civilized world. The Reforma- 



104< EFFECTS OF THE REFORMATION. [Chap. 

tion — the most memorable event in the fortunes of 
the Church since the conversion of Constantine, 
which is never mentioned even now without awak- 
ening feelings of deep regret or lively congratula- 
tion — soon gave a new aspect and character to 
Church-history. The disputants on both sides at 
once felt its importance. The whole question be- 
tween them was one of history. The reformers 
maintained that the abettors of the papacy had 
during a long season of ignorance grievously cor- 
rupted the simplicity of the Gospel by false doctrine 
and superstition. It was their business, therefore, 
to show that the notions and practices which they 
denounced as innovations, were unsanctioned by the 
New Testament, and unknown to the early Church. 
The friends of the prevailing system, on the other 
hand, charged their opponents with holding strange 
and monstrous opinions, and were, therefore, bound 
to prove, that what they themselves taught was 
taught in Scripture, and had been inculcated by the 
doctors of antiquity. But though both parties im- 
mediately betook themselves to this department of 
the argument, it was some time before the Refor- 
mation can be said to have produced any systematic 
work on the history of the Church. The Romanists, 
ever anxious to argue the questions in dispute on 
scholastic principles, did not feel the want of a new 
work on the subject ; and the first champions on 
the side of the reformers were too much engaged in 
propagating and defending their opinions, and in 



III.] MATTHIAS FLACIUS ILLYRICUS. 105 

building up new systems, to have leisure for a large 
and difficult undertaking. It was not, therefore, for 
nearly forty years after Luther's first efforts, that 
we discover the existence of a new school of Church- 
history. 

Matthias Flacius Illyricus 1 , the founder of 
this school, was one of the most conspicuous mem- 
bers of the second generation of Protestant divines, 
and distinguished himself among his contemporaries 

1 His real name was Matthias Franco witz. He was born 
in 1520 at Albona, a town in Istria, in the ancient Illyricum, 
from which circumstance he was called Illyricus. He first dis- 
tinguished himself by his violent opposition to his patron, Me- 
lancthon, in the Adiaphoristic controversy in 1549. But his 
characteristic obstinacy was most fully exhibited by the tenet 
which he advanced in his controversy with Strigelius in 1560, 
that original sin is the very substance of human nature, which 
he could never be prevailed upon to abandon. He died at 
Frankfort in 1575. He is characterised by Mosheim as " Vir 
turbulenti ingenii et ad rixas seminandas et propagandas na- 
tura factus." Instit. Hist. Eccles. Saec. xvi. sect. iii. Pars ii. 
cap. i. § xxxi. p. 657. edit. 1764. Bp. Montague calls him 
" Furiosum Theologum et insanum, prodigiosarum quarundam 
et monstrosarum opinionum inventorem, et acerrimum propug- 
natorem." Apparat. ad Orig. Eccles. Prsefat. § 52. And Bayle 
says of him, " C'etoit un homme qui avoit d'excellens dons, 
l'esprit vaste, beaucoup de savoir, un grand zele contre le 
Papisme ; mais son humeur turbulente, impetueuse, querelleuse, 
gatoit toutes ses bonnes qualitez, et causoit mille desordres dans 
l'Eglise Protestante. II ne faisoit pas difficulte de declarer 
qu'il faloit tenir en respect les princes, par la crainte des sedi- 
tions." Dictionnaire Historique et Critique, torn. ii. p. 839. 
edit. 1740. 



106 MATTHIAS FLACIUS ILLYRICUS. [Chap. 

by the boldness with which he maintained the ex- 
treme consequences of the doctrines of Luther. The 
extravagance of his opinions, and the violence of 
his conduct in the controversies which divided the 
doctors of his time, have made him a prominent 
object in the history of Lutheranism, and caused 
posterity to adopt the opinion entertained of him 
by his most eminent contemporaries, and regard 
him as the firebrand of Protestant Germany. His 
learning was extensive, and his ardent zeal against 
the Romanists was increased by the departure, as 
he deemed it, of the Lutherans of the school of 
Melancthon from the original doctrines of the 
Reformation. He was impetuous and obstinate ; 
and if there be any truth in a charge which is so 
commonly brought against him as to be connected 
with his very name, his love of knowledge was 
greater than his integrity l . Moved by the con- 
stant taunt of the Romanists, that the Protestant 
doctrines were unknown before the time of Luther 2 , 
he determined to make known to the world the 
opinions which had been expressed by learned and 

1 He is accused, on the authority of Melchior Adam, of 
making his way in disguise into the libraries of monasteries, 
and mutilating and stealing manuscripts. Cum integros auferre 
non posset libros, philyras tamen suo usui inservientes excidit ; 
sic etiam, ut fraude retecta, Cutter Flacianus fere in proverbium 
abierit. Sagittarii Introd. in Hist. Eccles. p. 766. I am sorry 
to say that Melchior Adam and Morhof seem to have felt little 
pity for the lazy monks. Sagittarius himself is more honest. 

2 Appendix, Note LL. 



III.] CATALOGUS TESTIUM. 107 

pious men before the Reformation respecting the 
corruptions of the Church ; and in the year 1556 
published his " Catalogue of Witnesses V with the 
professed intention of exhibiting the testimony of 
Ecclesiastical-history against the Church of Rome. 
Considering the difficulties which were to be en- 
countered by the first writer on such a subject, the 
" Catalogus Testium " must be acknowledged to 
possess much merit as a work of research and learn- 
ing. But the principles on which it is constructed, 
and the tone and spirit in which it is written, are 
in the highest degree unsatisfactory. It introduced 
into Church-history evils which have scarcely yet 
been remedied. It gave a popularity to prejudices 
which flourish, in some among ourselves at least, 
even now in almost their original vigour. Accord- 
ing to Illyricus, who (to borrow an illustration used 
by a great man 2 on a different subject), turned into 

1 Catalogus Testium Veritatis, qui ante nostram setatem re- 
clamarunt Papas. Opus varia rerum, hoc praesertim tempore 
scitu dignissimum, cognitione refertum, ac lectu cum primis 
utile atque necessarium. Cum Praefatione Mathiae Flacii Illyrici, 
qua operis hujus et ratio et usus expouitur. Basileae. The first 
edition, from which I transcribe this title, has no date in the 
title, but the colophon gives the date 1556. There was a second 
edition in 1562. The editions of 1597 and 1608 contain much 
additional matter, interwoven by the editor, Simon Goulart. 
But the Frankfort edition of 1666 exhibits the work as it was 
left by the author. See Bayle, Dictionnaire, tome ii. p. 840, 
(E.) 

2 Seidell's Table-Talk. TransubafantUition, p. 155. edit. 
1696. 



108 MAGDEBURG CENTURIES. [Chap. 

logic the rhetoric of Luther and his first associates, 
the Pope is Anti-christ ; the Church of Christ ceased 
to exist as a visible community for several centuries, 
and the persons whom he brings forward as wit- 
nesses of the truth belonged to the seven thousand 
who had not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. 
Every charge which was made against the disorders 
of the clergy he represents as an attack upon the 
Romish Church. Every complaint which was made 
of the misconduct of individual prelates, he brings 
forward as a denunciation of the hierarchy. His 
manifest partizanship has led many judicious per- 
sons to regard with suspicion ! several of the pieces 
which he has published as the genuine remains of 
antiquity ; and we can, at all events, excuse the 
disingenuousness with which he conducts his argu- 
ment, only by making a very large allowance for the 
prejudices of the age, and the demoralizing influence 
of systematic controversy. 

But the "Catalogus Testium" was not the principal 
effort of the industry of Illyricus in this department 
of learning. It seems rather to have been merely 
an attempt to call attention to the subject of Church- 
history, and prepare the way for a work of much 

1 Bayle contends that if he stole MSS. it does not follow that 
he corrupted them. But if the character of Illyricus had been 
high enough to be worth blackening, the ingenious sceptic would 
probably have discovered that a reputed thief is little likely to 
be regarded as a faithful editor. I am not aware, however, that 
there is any positive evidence of his fabricating documents : 
though it certainly is not satisfactory to depend on his sole 
authority. 



Ill] MAGDEBURG CENTURIES. 109 

higher pretensions, which he was already engaged 
in preparing for publication. As early as the year 
1553, during his residence at Magdeburg, he had, in 
conjunction with Johann Wigand and Matthseus 
Judex, the pastors of that city, and other scholars, 
projected a new and extensive work on Ecclesiasti- 
cal history. It appears to have been at once com- 
menced ; and it was carried on by their united 
efforts as far as the end of the thirteenth century, 
with an energy and perseverance worthy of the 
magnitude and importance of the undertaking. The 
history of their labours is instructive and curious. 
They were well aware of the difficulties which they 
had to overcome, and though placed in circum- 
stances by no means favourable for ensuring success, 
they were not discouraged, but took their measures 
with coolness and prudence. Men, whose obnoxious 
opinions had deprived them of their homes, or who 
were engaged in the active duties of the pastoral 
office, could expect to do little towards the accom- 
plishment of a work such as they had projected, by 
solitary labour. Their own resources were limited, 
they were regarded with jealousy and contempt by 
the most powerful party among the Protestants of 
Germany. But the boldness and perseverance of 
Illyricus overcame every obstacle. He ransacked 
libraries in search of books and manuscripts. He 
solicited the pecuniary assistance of wealthy friends. 
A fund was raised, to which even kings and cities 
contributed, by the help of which a regular establish- 



110 MAGDEBURG CENTURIES. [Chap. 

ment was organized and set in motion. Bnt much 
was to be done after they had prepared their ma- 
terials and erected their machinery. Several years 
elapsed before any part of the promised work 
appeared. It is not unlikely that the " Catalogus 
Testium" was brought out to allay the clamours of 
unreasonable subscribers. The enemies of Illyricus, 
justly irritated by his treatment of their master, 
Melancthon, did not neglect a favourable oppor- 
tunity of annoying his party, and publicly insinu- 
ated that they had induced their friends to aid 
them in composing a work which was never to ap- 
pear. The quarter from which this attack proceeded 
was too respectable to be despised ; and the Magde- 
burg divines deemed it proper to reply. In the 
short and moderate apology for their delay they 
thus l describe the process employed in the com- 

1 De Ecclesiastica Historia, quae Magdeburgi contexitur, 
Narratio, contra Menium, et Scholasticorum Wittebergensium 
Epistolas. This, however, did not satisfy the students of Wit- 
tenberg, who immediately replied in an ironical letter with the 
following superscription : Collegio Gubernatorum et Operariorum 
Ecclesiasticae Historise nervosioris et plenioris, quae Magdeburgi 
contexitur. Quinque Gubernatoribus et inspectoribus commu- 
nibus, optima? fidei hominibus, operarum et rationum magistris, 
pecuniae et eleemosynarum divisoribus. Inspectoribus secundis, 
materiarum distributoribus, rerum judicibus, partium colloca- 
toribus, limatoribus et emendatoribus ordinariis. Duobus Ma- 
gistris, aetate, doctrina et rectitudine judicii praestantibus, rerum 
dijudicatoribus tertiis, narratoribus et historicis. Septem studi- 
osis doctrina etjudicio mediocri praeditis, anatomicis historiarum, 
seculorum consideratoribus, solicitis et curiosis excerptoribus, 



III.] MAGDEBURG CENTURIES. Ill 

position of their work. Five directors (gubernatores) 
were appointed to manage the whole design ; and 
ten paid agents supplied the necessary labour. 
Seven of these were well informed students, who 
were employed in making collections from the 
various pieces set before them. Two others more 
advanced in years, and of greater learning and judg- 
ment, arranged the matter thus collected, submitted 
it to the directors, and, if it was approved, employed 
it in the composition of the work. As fast as the 
various chapters were composed they were laid be- 
fore certain inspectors selected from the number of 
the directors, who carefully examined what had been 
done, and made the necessary alterations. And, 
finally, a regular amanuensis made a fair copy of 
the whole 1 . 

At length, in the year 1559, appeared the first 
volume of their laborious undertaking 2 . It was 

apiculis sedulis et industriis, methodicis atque synopticis cen- 
turiatoribus. Et Amanuensi compositorum mundiori descriptor!. 
Coss. Medicis, Theologis, Magistris, Scribis, Ideae Ecclesise 
Comportatoribus, Universis et singulis, Scholastici Academiae 
Wittebergensis S. D. It is a very severe and witty composition. 
As the Magdeburg writers had boasted of their disinterestedness 
in working for small pay, their spiteful assailants pathetically 
condole with them upon their not receiving a fair share of the 
spoil, which they affect to believe must have been embezzled by 
the rapacity of their master Illyricus. 

1 Appendix, Note MM. 

2 Ecclesiastica Historia, integram Ecclesiae Christi ideam, 
quantum ad Locum, Propagationem, Tranquillitatem, Doctrinam, 



112 MAGDEBURG CENTURIES. [Chap. 

printed at Basil \ But the city in which the first 
part of it was composed 2 has given it a distinctive 
title, and the first great Protestant work on Church- 

Haereses, Ceremonias, Gubernationem, Schismata, Synodos, 
Personas, Miracula, Martyria, Religiones extra Ecclesiam, et 
statum imperii politicum attinet, secundum singulas Centurias 
perspicuo ordine complectens : singulari diligentia et fide ex 
vetustissimis et optimis historicis, patribus, et aliis scriptoribus 
congesta : Per aliquot studiosos et pios viros in urbe Magde- 
burgica. Basileae per Joannem Oporinum, 1559 — 74; thirteen 
vols. fol. This is the title of the original edition, of which 
some of the volumes were printed more than once. The Epistle 
Dedicatory is subscribed by Matthias Flacius Illyricus, Johannes 
Wigandus, Matthseus Judex, and Basilius Faber. Another 
edition, edited by Ludovicus Lucius, was published (also at 
Basil) in 1624 ; in which it was attempted by various omis- 
sions and interpolations to render the work more acceptable to 
the Reformed. At the beginning of the last century several 
learned Germans exerted themselves to procure a new edition ; 
and six vols. 4to. extending to the middle of the fifth century, 
were actually published at Nuremburg, 1757 — 65, with prefaces 
by Baumgarten and Semler. 

1 The whole was printed at Basil in thirteen volumes, each 
containing the history of a century. The thirteenth volume 
appeared in 1574. Wigand, one of the most active of the Cen- 
turiators, is said to have continued the work through the four- 
teenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. But this continuation 
was never published. Staudlin, Geschichte und Literatur der 
Kirchengeschichte, S. 144. 

2 According to Sagittarius (Introd. p. 245) the first four cen- 
turies and part of the fifth were composed at Magdeburg ; the 
remainder of the fifth and the sixth at Jena ; the seventh in the 
exile of the authors ; the eighth in the dominions of the Dukes 
of Mecklenburg ; and the rest in places in the Duchy of Weimar. 



III.] MAGDEBURG CENTURIES. \\3 

history has been always commonly known as the 
Magdeburg Centuries. It was in every point of 
view an extraordinary production \ Though the first 
modern attempt to illustrate the history of the 
Church, it was written upon a scale which has 
scarcely been exceeded. It brought to light a large 
quantity of unpublished materials ; and cast the 
whole subject into a fixed and regular form. One 
of its most remarkable features is the elaborate 
classification. This was, I believe, strictly original, 
and, with all its inconveniences, undoubtedly tended 
to introduce scientific arrangement and minute ac- 
curacy into the study of Church-history. Each 
century is treated separately, in sixteen heads or 
chapters 2 . The first of these gives a general view 
of the history of the century ; then follows, 2. The 
extent and propagation of the Church : 3. Persecu- 
tion and tranquillity of the Church : 4. Doctrine : 
5. Heresies : 6. Rites and ceremonies : 7. Govern- 
ment : 8. Schisms: 9. Councils: 10. Lives of 
bishops and doctors: 11. Heretics: 12. Martyrs: 

1 Appendix, Note NN. 

2 Cap. 1. Propositio et argumentum cujusque Centurige : 2. 
De Loco et Propagatione Ecclesiae : 3. Be Persecutione et 
Tranquillitate Ecclesiae : 4. De Doctrina Ecclesiae : 5. De 
Haeresibus : 6. De Ritibus et Ceremoniis : 7. De Politia et 
Gubernatione Ecclesiae : 8. De Schismatibus : 9. De Synodis : 
10. De Episcoporum et Doctorum Vitis : 11. De Hsereticis : 
12. De Martyribus : 13. De Miraculis : 14. De rebus Judaicis : 
15. De aliis Religionibus extra Ecclesiam Christi : 16. De 
Motions et Mutationibus in Tmperiis Politicis. 

I 



114 CRITICAL ESTIMATE [Chap. 

13. Miracles : 14. Condition of the Jews : 15. Other 
religions not Christian : 16. Political condition of 
the world. It must be confessed, however, that 
this very peculiarity rendered their work rather a 
collection of separate treatises than a compact and 
connected history. 

The literary merit of the work of the Centuriators 
was long extolled in extravagant panegyric by the 
continental Protestants ; but later writers have ex- 
pressed a more moderate and, as I conceive, a much 
more correct opinion of its value. The learned and 
very candid historian Schrockh says •, " In a work 
which, as this is, was the first of its kind, which was 
written amid so many obstacles, and at a time when 
historical science first began to flourish, faults and 
imperfections could not altogether be avoided ; and 
it has some which are considerable. In the very 
outset, the order and method in which it is com- 
posed, are among the number. You find in it 
rather abundant materials for a history, arranged in 
certain classes, than an uninterrupted narrative of 
events. The matter itself is sometimes divided by 
an inconvenient separation. Though an account of 
the persecutions is given in the second chapter of 
every century, the martyrs of the same period first 
make their appearance in the twelfth. The heresies 
are described in the fifth chapter, the heretics not 
before the eleventh. Yet this fault of historical 

1 Kirchengeschichte, Th. i. S. 167, 168. 



III.] OF THE MAGDEBURG CENTURIES. 1 [5 

composition is much more tolerable than another, 
which extends over the whole work. It is the 
polemical tone, the attitude of the controversialist, 
which the authors have so often assumed. As soon 
as the historian allows himself to exhibit in this 
character, it is a sign that he begins to quit his pro- 
per position. It is fortunate if he quickly returns 
to it. But if he continues to turn a dispassionate 
narrative into a series of refutations, to combat with 
all who have assailed it, or used it to their own ad- 
vantage, and to defend every little circumstance 
which he holds as true ; he then not only wearies 
his readers, but, unconsciously, becomes partial, and 
is drawn beyond the strict truth. The authors of 
the Magdeburg Church-history regarded the work 
which they wished to write, as a support of polemi- 
cal theology. They undertook it not merely as his- 
torians, but still more as divines, who wished to 
furnish their church with suitable weapons against 
its enemies. Thence comes the polemical form 
which they have given it in so many places. They 
take particular care to force from the Romish church 
the arguments which it wished to deduce from 
Church-history, to pursue it through the whole 
range of the subject, and to turn every thing to the 
advantage of the Evangelical Church. Much, there- 
fore, we cannot deny, is just twisted to suit these 
particular views. These upright men certainly did 
not write with any dishonest purpose, but their zeal 
sometimes did it for them. This also is certain, 

i 2 



116 CRITICAL ESTIMATE [Chap. 

that they used as genuine many supposititious and 
doubtful pieces, and were not always so happy as we 
could wish in explaining passages of the ancients ; 
that much is left in their accounts to supply, to 
settle, and to confirm. But criticism was then still 
in its infancy. Many writings of the Ecclesiastical 
doctors were printed, it is true, but uncorrected and 
full of faults : others as yet lay hid in manuscript ; 
and the remaining materials of this branch of history 
came to light but sparingly. It must be added, 
however, that the justice which requires us to point 
out the deficiencies of this work, obliges us to 
acknowledge, that the greatest part of them are to 
be ascribed to the times in which it was under- 
taken." 

Yet this, after all, is a mild judgment. We must 
not part with the Centuriators on these terms. 
Their industry and perseverance certainly deserve 
the highest praise. They encountered and van- 
quished difficulties of no ordinary kind. Out of 
huge masses of dispersed materials they were the 
first to form a compact and connected Church- 
history. Their design was not less admirable than 
it was original ; and when we take into account all 
the circumstances, it is truly wonderful that they 
were able to do so much towards carrying it into 
execution. They worked without any model, save 
what had been formed by their own genius. To 
complain of their literary deficiencies would be un- 
reasonable and ungrateful. It is the moral faults 



III.] OF THE MAGDEBURG CENTURIES. 117 

of their work on which we are required to pass 
a harsh judgment. These were undoubtedly faults 
which were common in their time. But we may 
not excuse them. The fierce tone of hostility and 
sarcasm towards the clergy of earlier times — the 
bitter contempt for every expression of religious 
feeling which the authors disapproved — the unfair- 
ness and disingenuousness — the arrogance and pre- 
sumption — the spirit of railing and evil speaking — 
the utter abuse of candour and charity — the com- 
plete want of sympathy with the piety which did 
not exactly correspond with a certain system — 
which prevail through their work, deserve the most 
severe condemnation ! . In spite of all its literary 
merits, a work so utterly destitute of moderation 
and impartiality could only indirectly serve the 
cause of truth. It set the unhappy example of 
writing Church-history in the most bigotted spirit 
of party, and at once marked it out as the devoted 
region which was henceforth to be the scene of 
incessant warfare. 

Great as was the zeal of Illyricus and the Cen- 
turiators in the cause of the Reformation, their 
labours appear to have been at first received by the 
great body of Protestants with mistrust and jealousy. 
This was as it might have been expected. The 
progress of time tended to exasperate rather than 
appease their differences with the divines of Wit- 

1 The opinion expressed by Bishop Montague corresponds 
very nearly with that given above. See Appendix, Note 00. 



118 RECEPTION OF THE CENTURIES. [Chap. 

temberg ; and the Reformed had still less reason 
than the Melancthonists to approve works which 
omitted no opportunity of maintaining in their 
most obnoxious form the Lutheran peculiarities. 
Our countryman John Foxe *, though deeply in- 
debted to Illyricus, deemed it prudent never to 
mention the " Catalogus Testium." And Francois 
Bourgoing, a minister at Geneva, who published 
an Ecclesiastical History 2 in French in 1565, de- 
nies 3 , as far as he can, his obligations to the 
Centuriators, though his book is little more than a 

1 Acts and Monuments : London, 1563. His obligations to 
the " Catalogus Testium" have been amply shown by Mr. Mait- 
land in his " Review of Fox the Martyrologist's History of the 
Waldenses." London, Rivingtons, 1837. 

2 L'Histoire Ecclesiastique, proposant l'entiere et vraye forme 
de l'Eglise de Jesus Christ, et monstrant par bon ordre les lieux 
ou elle a este dressee, l'avancement, persecution et tranquillite 
d'icelle, les punitions des persecuteurs, la doctrine, les heresies, 
les ceremonies, le gouvernement ecclesiastique, les schismes, les 
conciles, les personnes excellentes en l'Eglise, les heretiques, 
les martyrs, les miracles, les affaires des Juifs, les religions hors 
l'Eglise, et l'estat politique des empires : fidelement recueillie 
selon chasque centaine d'ans des plus anciens et meilleurs his- 
toriens et autres auteurs : et mise en Francois par Francois 
Bourgoing, ministre de la parole de Dieu. A Geneve, de l'im- 
primerie de Francois Perrin, pour Artus Chauvin. Avec privi- 
lege, m.d.lxv. The copy from which I transcribe contains only 
the first four centuries, (in two volumes, folio,) and I cannot 
find that the work was ever carried further. The book must be 
rare, for it had not been seen by Walch. Bibl. Theol. iii. 124. 

3 Appendix, Note PP. 



III.] ROMISH ASSAILANTS. 119 

translation of their work. But though personal 
and local circumstances deprived them, during their 
lives, of the reputation which they might have 
expected as the reward of their labours, they re- 
ceived all the compensation which could be afforded 
by the admiration of posterity. As the school of 
Melancthon passed away, the Magdeburg Centuries 
were appreciated with greater candour. The pre- 
valence of a stricter theology was favourable to 
their influence, and they formed for more than a 
hundred years a work scarcely less than authorita- 
tive with Lutheran students. The scholars of other 
Protestant communities indeed sometimes whis- 
pered their discontent and disapprobation ; but 
they submitted to consult an useful work, and were 
even willing from time to time to panegyrize a 
history which was regarded as an honour to the 
cause of the Reformation. 

The adherents of the Church of Rome were not 
slow in coming forward to contest the ground thus 
boldly occupied by their opponents. Several of 
their most learned writers almost immediately at- 
tacked the work of the Centuriators, and ostenta- 
tiously exposed its faults and errors. But they 
were not satisfied with the efforts of a desultory 
controversy. A new engine had been introduced 
into religious warfare ; they fought at a disadvan- 
tage till they -could meet their adversaries with 
equal arms. It was felt that a large and ponderous 



120 BARONIUS. [Chap. 

work, not less comprehensive than the mighty 
undertaking of their antagonists, was needed in 
support of their Romish views \ Such a work was 
soon undertaken. Onufrius Panvinius, one of 
the most learned Italians of his time, who died in 
1568, is said to have collected materials for the his- 
tory of the first two centuries 2 ; and after his death 
the design which he had projected was zealously 
pursued by the still more celebrated Baronius. 

CLesar Baronius was born in 1538, at Sora in 
the Terra di Lavoro, and was carefully educated at 
Naples and Rome. After having completed his 
studies in law and theology, he entered the newly- 
founded Congregation of the Oratory, of which he 
ultimately became the superior. Philip of Neri, 
the founder of that society, immediately perceived 
the talents of his young disciple, and induced him 
to devote his whole attention to the study of 

1 There were several Roman Catholic writers who wrote 
works on Church -history before Baronius ; but their works are 
forgotten. There are few even among those best acquainted 
with the subject, who are acquainted with such writers as 
Rioche, D'Espence, and De Preaux. I have given the titles of 
their works in the Index of Ecclesiastical Historians. 

2 Annalium Ecclesiasticorum Volumina duo, sive Centurias 
duas primores delineasse et primam eorum graphidem posuisse 
traditur [Onufrius], quas deinde perfecit atque elaboravit 
Caesar Baronius. Onufrii autographon in Bibl. Vaticana evol- 
visse se innuit Emanuel Schelstratenus. Fabr. Bibl. Lat. Med. 
et Infim. iEtatis, vol. v. p. 493. 



III.] BARONIUS. 121 

Church-history ! . He appointed him to deliver 
lectures in refutation of the Heretics, and en- 
couraged him to commit to writing the result of 
his historical studies. Seven times did the indefati- 
gable student lecture upon the whole circle of his 
subject, and thirty years of the prime of life were 
devoted to the incessant prosecution of Ecclesias- 
tical inquiry 2 . Did his industry ever fail, or his 
exhausted spirits seek relief in a fresh employ, his 
venerable friend was at hand to stimulate his languid 
energy, and to urge him to confine himself to an 
undertaking so necessary for his Church 3 . Such was 

1 Cum setate florente hujuscemodi studiis oblectaremur ; qui 
Christi loco propositus tunc nobis pater erat ad haec impulit, 
invitos licet, cum plus oneris certe, quam nostrse imbecillae vires 
ferre possent, imponeret : sicque triginta circiter annos in his 
pro viribus, Dei gratia favente, insudavimus : paene enim im- 
berbes eramus, cum haec exordiremur, nunc undique canis 
aspersi hsec scribimus ; semperque in Urbe versati, diversas, 
quae in ea sunt, bibliothecas nobiles, Vaticanam praecipue, quam 
ditissimum rerum antiquarum penu, promptuariumque dicere 
consuevimus, perlustravimus, ac cum eruditis viris, quorum 
magna copia hie esse solet, omnia contulimus, modo consulentes, 
modo disserentes, unde magna facta est rebus nostris accessio. 
Praefat. in Annales Eccles. torn. i. 

2 For the account which I have given of Baronius I am prin- 
cipally indebted to Dupin, Bibliotheque Eccles. torn. xvii. pp. 
1 — 4. Ittigius, Hist. Eccles. Sel. cap. torn. 1. Praefat. xi — xix. 
Sagittarius, Introd. in Hist. Eccles. p. 282. et seq. And above 
all to himself. 

3 Adstabas jugiter operi, (he says in the " Actio gratiarum"' 
prefixed to the eighth volume, apostrophizing his deceased 



122 BARONIUS. [Chap. 

the origin of the " Ecclesiastical Annals V' of which 
the first volume, containing the first century, ap- 
peared in 1588, and the twelfth and last, which 
ends with the year 1 198, in 1607. Every facility had 
been afforded by the court of Rome for the satis- 
factory execution of this great work. The author 
was allowed free access to the books and manu- 
scripts of the Roman libraries ; and as he was him- 
self little skilled in Greek, the pieces written in 
that language which were needed for his purpose, 
were translated for his use by other distinguished 
scholars. His labours were received with unbounded 
applause by the Ultramontane party, who were 
equally pleased with his learning and ingenuity, and 
his zealous vindication of the highest pretensions of 
the Roman see. In 1596 his services were rewarded 
by the purple, and soon after he was made librarian 

friend,) urgens praesentia, instabas verbis, durus semper (ig- 
noscas si hoc dixero) diurni pensi existens exactor, adeo ut 
piaculum putares, si interdum ad alia enarranda divertissem, 
dum nee minimum quidem ab instituto deflectere patereris. 

1 Annales Ecclesiastici, auctore Caesare Baronio Sorano ex 
congregatione Oratorii. Romae, 1588 — 1607. Besides this, 
Walch mentions the following editions. Antverp. 1589, Mogunt. 
1601, Venet. 1601, Rom. 1607, Colon. 1609, Antverp. 1610, 
Colon. 1624, Antverp. 1670, Antverp. 1675, Venet. 1705, 
Lucae, 1738. All in twelve volumes except the last, which in 
thirty-eight volumes contains not only the Annals of Baronius 
but the Continuation of Raynaldus and the Critica of Pagi, and 
is illustrated b.y the notes of the learned editors, D. G. and 
J. D. Mansi. 



III.] BARONIUS. 12$ 

of the Vatican. But his extravagant notions of 
the Papal authority found less favour beyond the 
Alps. Cardinal Perron, jealous for the Gallican 
liberties, would allow his work no other praise than 
that of labour \ And the court of Spain so deeply 
resented his imprudent attempt to revive the Papal 
claims on the kingdom of Sicily 2 , as successfully to 
exert itself upon the death of Clement VIII., to 
prevent his obtaining the triple crown. 

Though Baronius was too prudent to give impor- 
tance to the labours of the Centuriators by fre- 
quently making direct allusion to their statements, 
there is no doubt that he wrote with the express 
object of counteracting the effects of their work 3 . 

1 Sagittar. Introd. p. 297. 

2 In his Tractatus de Monarchia Siciliae, inserted in the 
eleventh volume, which, was published in 1605, and was in con- 
sequence proscribed by an edict of the king of Spain, Philip III. 

3 In the preface to the first volume, he alludes to the Centu- 
riators without naming them. Fuere e recentioribus nonnulli 
ab Ecclesia Catholica extorres, qui antiquorum res gestas se 
collecturos professi, nihil aliud conati sunt, nisi ut mendacia 
coacervantes, aditum hunc nobis apertum obstruerent, et 
patentem viam regiam impedirent ; et perinde ac si ad versus 
veritatem junctis armis bellum jurassent, falsissima quaeque 
cumularunt, omniaque immutarunt, ac prorsus inverterunt, nihil 
aliud molientes, quam novam turrim confusionis, ad ccelum si 
fieri possit pertingentem, qua ad versus Deum et Sanctos ejus 
dimicarent, cseco perciti furore, construere .... Sed ad horum 
conatus infringendos, commenta detegenda, ac imposturas aperi- 
endas, non multa opus est consultatione, vel facto. Satis super- 
que puto, si germana ilia ac sincera Ecclesiae vultus imago ex 



124 BARONIUS. [Chap. 

This gave a controversial character to his under- 
taking which ill accords with the dignity of history. 
And independently of this, his position and prin- 
ciples were quite fatal to a fair and candid exhibi- 
tion of the history of the Church. Determined to 
find in every age the existence of an Ecclesiastical 
monarchy, and the opinions and practices of modern 
Rome, he makes havoc of the primitive history, and 
grievously distorts the Christian Antiquities. Every 
fact is extended upon the bed of Procrustes, and 
cruelly stretched or curtailed at the will of the 
literary tyrant. Every witness must freely bear his 

antiquo prototypo demonstretur ; cujus tantum inspectione 
nullo negotio fiet, ut portenti turpissimi simulacrum, cujusnam 
imaginem referat, cognoscatur. In hoc igitur nobis omni dili- 
gentia incumbendum, ut in primum illud exemplar semper 
mentis oculos intendentes, Ecclesiae effigies ilia pristina pristino 
decori formaeque reddatur, quae suo splendore sic tenebras dis- 
jiciat, caliginemque dispellat, ut oculi intuentium maxima cum 
jucunditate clarissimo veritatis aspectu perfruantur. p. 1. Edit. 
Antverp. 1610. In the Gratiarum Actio to his friend Philip 
of Neri, in the eighth volume, he speaks of their work by 
name. Ubi mente ilia tua divino perfusa lumine, ac prophetico 
(dicere liceat) afflata spiritu vidisti e portis inferis in Ecclesiae 
detrimentum progressas esse Centurias Satanae : ex adverso 
consurgens pro domo Israel praeliaturus praelia Domini, non 
majori vel pari saltern numero militum, compensato certamine, 
decernendum putasti ; sed probe sciens, quod quae infirma 
mundi sunt, eligit Deus, ut confundat fortia : puerum tuum, 
fratrum minimum, et hebetioris ingenii delegisti, quern unum, 
eumdemque inermem tot objiceres armatis hostibus. Philippo 
Nerio gratiarum Actio. 



Ill] BARONIUS. 125 

testimony to the Romish views of history, or a 
reluctant confession is extorted from him by the 
rack. Heretics and schismatics are less the objects 
of pity, than of passionate abuse. Temporal princes, 
who have rendered themselves obnoxious to the 
enmity of the spirituality, are assailed with violent 
invective. In short, the author is the very ideal of 
an Italian Romanist. He never descends from his 
towering principles. Hildebrand himself would 
have been satisfied with his historian. 

Yet as an effort of literary labour, the work of 
Baronius largely demands our admiration. It 
formed a memorable step in the progress of Church- 
history. The form of annals in which it is ar- 
ranged, is convenient and natural; and we .con- 
stantly find, in perusing it, that the author, who 
had at his command the documentary treasures of 
the metropolis of the Christian world, availed him- 
self of his advantages with laudable industry and 
zeal. Though it was written at a time when little 
had yet been done for Ecclesiastical criticism ; 
when Diplomatic, which has since wrought such 
wonders for the cause of history, did not exist as a 
science ; and when geography and philology were 
still only in their childhood; it still maintains a 
high rank among the works on Church-history. 
Though it has many of the defects of an early 
attempt to illustrate the subject, it is one of the 
books which will never be superseded. So much, 
indeed, has since been done for every branch of 



126 EFFECTS OF THE CENTURIES [Chap. 

chronology, that it would have been but natural for 
the Ecclesiastical annals of the illustrious cardinal 
to have passed ere this into oblivion. But he has 
incorporated with his labours a large quantity of 
documents and extracts from manuscripts, which 
have not been published elsewhere. His work is 
itself a great repository of materials ; and is now 
chiefly valuable as a collection of authorities. This 
value it is likely always to retain. The student can 
never turn to it without advantage. For though 
genuine and supposititious pieces are brought to- 
gether with scarcely an attempt at discrimination, 
it affords much which is absolutely indispensable to 
all who seek a well-grounded acquaintance with 
Ecclesiastical History •. 

The labours of the Magdeburg Centuriators and 
Baronius had the immediate effect of establishing 
two distinct and hostile schools of Church-history. 
Ecclesiastical antiquity was henceforth the field on 
which the champions of the Protestant and Romish 
parties fought their fiercest battles ; and the history 
of the Church came to be too generally regarded as 
little else than a branch of polemical divinity. All 
things considered, this was perhaps inevitable. The 
Reformation had given the science new objects, 
and a new direction. The questions in dispute 

1 In confirmation of the opinions which I have ventured to 
express respecting Baronius, I have in the Appendix (Note QQ.) 
transcribed the censure of a Roman Catholic and the praise of a 
Protestant. 



III.] AND THE ANNALS. 127 

were most of them so purely historical, that the 
history itself could not but become matter of con- 
troversy. It is, however, greatly to be regretted 
that the subject should have been first handled on 
both sides by men holding extreme opinions. This 
tended to place the parties in more complete re- 
pulsion, and to lay down and perpetuate party 
views of the plainest facts. We still feel the con- 
sequences. For though time and inquiry have 
produced mutual concessions, and multiplied the 
points on which all agree, many writers on both 
sides continue to maintain certain favourite posi- 
tions in a spirit which betrays more of the violence 
of the controversialist than the calmness of the 
historian. 

The merit of the " Centuries," and the " Annals," 
as works of learning, had likewise the effect of 
discouraging further investigation into the history 
of the periods over which they extended. It was 
soon felt that both parties had a sort of authorized 
work on Church-history, which it was rather a 
point of honour to defend than a point of duty to 
improve. We may generally observe that a great 
effort of literature is followed by a state of com- 
parative inactivity, analogous to the exhaustion 
which succeeds an unusual exertion of an animal 
body. It was so in the case before us. Much was 
done in the former half of the seventeenth century 
for particular portions and departments of the 
history and antiquities of the Church, but we meet 

8 



H8 EFFECTS OF THE CENTURIES [Chap. 

with no new complete or comprehensive work. The 
Protestants l attacked Baronius ; the Romanists 2 
attacked the Centuriators ; and posterity has availed 
itself of the truth which was elicited in the contest. 
The disputants themselves, however, respectively 
adhered to their own views and principles, and 
scarcely attempted to disengage the truth from the 
baser materials which had been worked up with it 
by the perverse industry of controversial historians. 
It is well known that upon the death of Melanc- 
thon, the moderate views of that eminent man 
were soon altogether abandoned by the Protestants 
who adhered to the confession of Augsburg, and 
that a stern exclusiveness became the prevailing 
character of the orthodox theology of Lutheranism. 
The change was favourable to the reputation of the 
Centuriators. By the end of the sixteenth century, 
the prejudices with which their work was at first 
regarded in their own community had died away, 
and it was universally received as the church- 
history of the Lutheran party. But highly as it was 
valued, it was a cumbrous and expensive work, 
which could never be generally used by any but 
professional students. It was moreover imperfect, 
inasmuch as it did not extend beyond the thirteenth 

i Sagittar. Introd. p. 309—319. Schmid. Supplem. p. 164— 
174. Fabr. Bibl. Graec. xii. 170—175. Walch, Bibl. Theol. iii. 
151—159. 

2 Sagittar. Introd. p. 283. Fabr. Bibl. Graec. xii. 163—165. 
Walch, Bibl. Theol. iii. 125—126. 



III.] OSIANDER. 129 

century. Hence the occasion for abridgments and 
continuations; which were almost the only con- 
tributions made by Lutheran scholars to the know- 
ledge of Church-history for upwards of an hundred 
years. The first of this class of writers, and the 
one whose labours enjoyed the greatest popularity, 
was Lucas Osiander, a divine of eminence in the 
duchy of Wirtemberg. He reduced the " Centu- 
ries" into an Epitome \ which together with a 
continuation of the history of the Church to his 
own time, was published in separate volumes be- 
tween 1592 and 1613 2 . This compilation long 
maintained its ground in Germany. It was trans- 
lated into German as the volumes appeared ; and a 
Swedish translation 3 was published in 1635. Being 
itself a work of some extent, it was made the sub- 
ject of other abridgments ; and may perhaps be 
regarded as having contributed to extend and per- 

1 The title of the first volume is, Epitomes Historiae Ecclesias- 
tics Centuria, i. ii. iii. In quibus breviter et perspicue commemo- 
ratur, quis fuerit status Ecclesiae Christi a nativitate Salvatoris, 
usque ad initium anni Christi ccc. Recitatur autem in specie, 
quomodo Evangelii doctrina in orbe terrarum sparsa sit : quae 
haereses in Ecclesia exortae : quae persecutiones contra Eccle- 
siam motae : quibus mediis haereses oppressae, et persecutiones 
sedatae sint : quos praeclaros doctores Ecclesiae singulis tempo- 
ribus habuerint : inter quos et Romanorum Episcoporum vitae 
recensentur. Sed et Romanorum Imperatorum acta describun- 
tur. Lucas Osiander, D. Tubingae, 1592. 

2 Appendix, Note RR. 

3 By Erich Schroder. Stockholm, 1635. 

K 



130 CONTINUATORS OF BARONIUS. [Chap. 

petuate the views of the Centuriators even more 
than their own voluminous work. 

The remarks which have been made on the re- 
lation in which the Lutherans stood to the work 
of the Centuriators, are still more applicable to 
that in which the Romanists stood to the labours 
of Baronius. The undertaking of Baronius was 
altogether an official work. It was known and 
acknowledged to exhibit the views of Rome. The 
author had enjoyed literary advantages which were 
far beyond the reach of less favoured scholars. It 
would have been to incur at once the charge of 
heresy and presumption to attempt to rival his 
undertaking 1 ; and accordingly, for more than half 
a century, no such attempt was made by a member 
of the Romish Church 2 . But the work of Baronius 
was imperfect. The illustrious author had pub- 
lished only the annals of the first twelve centuries. 
If, as it has been asserted 3 , he had prepared three 
centuries more, they were never given to the world, 
and it was left to others to continue the mighty 
undertaking of the father of Romish Ecclesiastical 

1 Translations of Baronius were begun in several of the 
modern languages ; but none of them proceeded beyond the 
first or second volume. Fabr. Bibl. Graec. xii. 167 ; Walch, 
Bibl. Theol. iii. 145. 

2 It would, however, be unjust to that communion not to 
remark that the errors of Baronius have been severely criti- 
cised by Romish writers. See Schmid. Supplem. Sagittar. 
Introd. p. 155—160. 

3 Fabr. Bibl. Graec. xii. 1 66. 



III.] BZOVIUS. 131 

history. The magnitude and difficulty of the work 
did not deter adventurous scholars from treading in 
his steps, and the historian of Church-history must 
on no account omit a notice of their labours. 

The first writer who attempted a continuation of 
the Ecclesiastical Annals, was Abraham Bzovius ', 
a Polish Dominican. He composed a work ex- 
tending to twelve folio volumes 2 , of which the first 
eight appeared at Cologne between 1616 and 1635. 
These brought down the history of the Church from 
the end of the Pontificate of Celestine III., where 
Baronius concluded, to the year 1564. The author 
died in 1637. But another volume appeared at 
Rome in 1672, which continued the history to the 
year 1572. But no more was published. Though 
written upon the same principles as those adopted 
by Baronius, it has been almost universally regarded 
as greatly inferior to the work which it was de- 
signed to continue 3 . It never enjoyed any high 

1 Historiae Ecclesiastical ex illustriss. Caesaris Baronii, 
S. R. E. Cardinalis Bibliothecarii Annalibus, aliarumque Viror. 
Illust„ Ecclesiasticis Monumentis, tomus i. He has been sar- 
castically described as Gente Polonus, audacia historicus, desi- 
derio Cardinalis. Ittig. Hist. Eccles. Sel. Cap. Praefat. § 16. 

2 Schmid. Supplem. Sagittar. Introd. p. 175. 

' 6 Hie non modo in eundem, quern Baronius, impegit lapi- 
dem ; verum eum-etiam superavit, scilicet in turpi, et nefanda 
Papae ac Romanae sedis adulatione : in reliquis ingenio, judicio, 
rerum usu, ac eloquio multum inferior Baronio. Sagittarii 
Introd. in Hist. Eccles. p. 319. His work was said to be more 
properly the Annals of his Order than of the Church. Ittig. 

k2 



132 SPONDANUS. [Chap. 

degree of reputation. The author was unfortunate 
enough to expose himself not only to the dis- 
pleasure of the Duke of Bavaria \ but to the more 
formidable hostility of the Franciscans and the 
Jesuits ; and candid readers were scarcely less 
offended by his servile attachment to the interests 
of the court of Rome. 

Henri de Sponde, or as he is generally called, 
Spondanus, a native of Mauleon-le-Soule, a town 
in Gascony, was the next writer who attempted a 
similar work. He had been brought up a Pro- 
testant, but conformed to the church of Rome, and 

ut supra. Bzovius has been treated quite as severely by 
Roman Catholic as by Protestant writers. He is thus de- 
scribed by the learned Jesuit, Theophile Raynaud : F. Abr. 
Bzovius Ordin. Cyriacorum perexigui judicii scriptor, nee tam 
autor quam consarcinator ; emisit multa volumina continua- 
tions Ecclesiasticae Historiae post Baronium, cui succedaneam 
in eo argumento operam navavit : ut objectu contrarii, magis 
eluceret Baronii accuratio, juxta Pbilonis observationem lib. 
quis rer. divinar. hceres. Tomi Bzoviani sunt potius Annales 
Dominicanorum, quam Annales Ecclesiastici : est enim totus 
in rebus domesticis efferendis, ac dilatandis ; nisi cum aliquid 
Ordini probrosum, quod convellere non posset, malis avibus in 
historian seriem incidit. Tunc enim supra piscem tacitus abit. 
At cum agitur de mordendis et risui omnium exponendis Fra- 
tribus Minoribus, probat exquisite diligentiam. De Immunit. 
Autorum Cyriacor. Diatr. vii. Opera, torn. xx. p. 302. It is, 
however, but fair to remark, that the tract in which this occurs 
is a virulent libel upon the Dominicans. 

1 On account of the severity with which he treated the 
memory of the Emperor Louis of Bavaria. 



III.] RAYNALDUS. 133 

in 1626 became bishop of Pamiers in Languedoc. 
His work l is the most concise of the continuations 
of Baronius. It extends from 1 1 98 to the time at 
which he wrote, in two volumes folio, and was 
published at Paris in 1659. He has been often 
praised for his sound judgment 2 ; and his historical 
writings have been thought 3 to bear marks of his 
Protestant education, though he does not yield to 
his predecessors in the warmth of his devotion to 
the papal cause. 

But the work 4 which is best known and most 
esteemed as a continuation of Baronius, was the 
last which was written. Odoricus Raynaldus, a 
native of Treviso, was a priest of the Oratory, a con- 

1 Annalium Erain mi Cardinalis Caes. Baronii Continuatio, 
ab anno mcxcvii. quo is desiit, ad finem mdcxlvi. Per Henri- 
cum Spondanum Mauleosolensem Appamiarum in Gallia 
Narbonensi Episcopum. Lutetiae Parisiorum, impensis Socie- 
tatis Typographies Librorum officii Ecclesiastici jussu Regis 
constitutae. 1659. Cum privilegio Christianissimae majestatis. 
It was written by Spondanus himself only as far as 1640. The 
rest (only five pages) was added by a friend. 

2 Cave, comparing him with Bzovius and Raynaldus, says, 
" Etsi reliquis mole cedat, fide tamen, diligentia, atque judicio 
accuratiori longe superat." Prolegom. ad Hist. Lit. § vi. 1. 

3 Schrockh, Kirchengeschichte, Th. i. S. 233. 

4 Annales Ecclesiastici ab anno mcxcviii. ubi Card. Baronius 
desinit, Auctore Odorico Raynaldo, Tarusino, Congregationis 
Oratorii Presbytefo. Tomus xiii. Rome excudebat Mascardus, 
1646. Superiorum permissu, et privilegio. It is included in 
the great edition of the Ecclesiastical Annals in thirty-eight 
folios. Lucae, 1738—59. 



134 RAYNALDUS. [Chap. 

gregation which, as he tells us 1 , considered itself 
interested, by a sort of hereditary right, in the 
labours of Baronius. Like his great predecessor he 
was allowed access to the literary stores of the 
Vatican, and his Continuation of the Ecclesiastical 
Annals affords ample proof of the advantages enjoyed 
by its author. It extends from 1198 to 1565. 
Eight volumes appeared during his lifetime, be- 
tween 1646 and 1663, and a posthumous volume 
was printed in 1677 2 . It is generally acknowledged 
that Raynaldus equalled Baronius only in the vio- 
lence of his papal prejudices ; but the documents 
and other original pieces, which enrich his pages, 
have secured for them a high and permanent value. 
In the meantime a crowd of epitomists extended 

1 In his dedication to the Pope he says, Cum Caesar Cardin- 
alis Baronius, summse pietatis ac sapientiae vir, atque universal 
Historiae Ecclesiasticae pater, quern Sanctitas Tua, amore et 
officiis, dum in terris fuit, est prosecuta, ac post obitum, meritis 
laudibus ad ccelum tollere nunquam destitit, hujuscemodi his- 
toriae scribendae provinciam hereditario quodam jure alumnis 
congregationis nostras reliquerit ; eamque Historiam ex scrinio 
potissimum Sedis Apostolieae, et antiquissimis Vaticanae Bibli- 
othecae monumentis excerpendam praescripserit ; mihi, cui ab 
ingenii artisque adminiculis plane imparato tarn arduum munus 
obtigit, omnino visum est deberi opus uni S u T. quae Vaticana 
tabularia, in quibus tot insunt thesauri quot volumina, reserari 
mihi ac patefieri jussit." He is said to have had the use of the 
manuscripts left by Baronius. Fabr, Bibl. Graec. xii. 166. 

2 In two parts, the first bearing the date 1676; the second, 
1677. Ittigius says (Hist. Eccles. Sel. Cap. Tom. i. Praefat. 
§ 15) that it was not published till 1689, 



Ill] EPITOMISTS OF BARONIUS. 1,35 

the fame of Baronius and the influence of his work. 
Bzovius, Spondanus *, and Raynaldus, all abridged 
the work which they afterwards continued ; and a 
multitude of other writers, whose names are less 
known to posterity, propagated in similar com- 
pilations, the views inculcated in the Ecclesias- 
tical Annals. Their charitable labours were not 
confined to the language of scholars. The unlearned 
were equally invited to avail themselves of the 
discoveries of the orthodox historian. The ver- 
nacular tongues were employed in celebrating the 
antiquity of Romanism, and in denouncing the 
protestant errors. Some of these epitomes 2 were 
written in French, Italian, German, Polish, and 
even Arabic : and it would almost seem that the 
members of the church of Rome had begun to 

1 The epitome of Spondanus had the sanction of Baronius 
himself. In a letter to Spondanus, of the 31st of August, 1606, 
there is the following characteristic passage : — Quod de Annalium 
nostrorum Epitome, opera et studio tuo elaborata significasti, 
non gratum mihi acceptumque esse non potuit. Etsi enim re 
vera totum hoc breviandi genus probare vix solemus, rarumque 
sit ut ex animi sententia lectoribus procedat : ea tamen de pru- 
dentia, fide, ac diligentia tua nostra est fiducia, ut quod abs te 
profectum sit, id omnibus placere posse arbitremur. Spondani 
Epitom. Prsefat. p. 5. 

2 For the epitomes of Baronius it is sufficient to refer to 
Fabricius (BimVGraec. xii. 168), and Walch, Bibl. Theol. iii. 
146 — 148. I have included all the most important in the 
Bibliographical Index at the end of this volume. 



136 GODEAU. [Chap. 

identify the very idea of Ecclesiastical history with 
the work of Baronius. 

At all events, for full half a century, nothing but 
these continuations and abridgments was attempted 
by writers of that communion. They were content 
to present a bare statement of facts, for the most 
part grievously distorted by party prejudice, without 
endeavouring to treat their subject in a way calcu- 
lated to inform the understanding or affect the 
heart. Till the middle of the seventeenth century 
Church-history may fairly be said to have remained 
stationary at the point to which it had been 
conducted by Baronius. The work 1 of Antoine 
Godeau, bishop of Vence, which was published in 
1 653, was the first which exhibited any new features. 
The " Histoire de l'Eglise 2 " of this amiable writer, 

1 Histoire de l'Eglise par Messire Antoine Godeau, Evesque 
et Seigneur de Vence. I use the fourth edition (1672) ; the first 
was published in 1653. 

2 Le principal (de ses ouvrages) est son Histoire Ecclesias- 
tique, en trois volumes en folio, dont le premier parut en 1653, 
qui contiennent l'histoire des huit premiers siecles. II avoit 
travaille a la continuation de cette histoire, et ses memoires 
sont entre les mains d'un Eveque de France ; mais comme ils 
ne sont pas achevez, on ne les a point donnez au public. On 
est oblige a M. Godeau d'avoir le premier donne en Francois 
une Histoire Ecclesiastique, exacte, fidele, complete, et agre- 
able a lire : quoique depuis lui plusieurs habiles gens aient 
travaille sur le meme sujet, l'histoire de M. Godeau a, et aura 
toujours, son merite, que les annees ni les autres histoires 



III.] GODEAU. 137 

was undoubtedly a step in its progress. Though he 
adhered pretty closely to the method of Baronius, 
and was no doubt chiefly indebted to him for his 
materials, his conception of his subject was in some 
degree original, and his work was distinguished by 
some important peculiarities. It bore the impress 
of the author's mind, and was accordingly religious, 
moderate, and candid. Though written to exhibit 
a popular view l of the subject, and excluding there- 
fore inquiries interesting only to scholars, it probably 
exercised considerable influence on the future culti- 
vation of Church-history. It seems to possess the 
merit of having introduced to the Roman Catholics 
a peculiarity which the Centuriators had long before 

n'efTaceront point. Du Pin, Nouvelle Bibliotheque, torn. xvii. 
p. 287. It is a dangerous thing to make predictions : the 
work of Godeau has been long superseded and forgotten. It 
is said, that the fidelity of his first volume exposed the author 
to the charge of heresy ; and that the intelligible threats of a 
powerful ecclesiastic induced him to write the remainder of his 
work with less impartiality. Schmid. Supplem. Sagittar. 
Intrcd. p. 212. The good bishop was highly celebrated in his 
day for his devotional and poetical writings. An envious critic, 
however, ventured to question his right to a very elevated 
position on Parnassus. The passage in which Du Pin mentions 
this unreasonable conduct is worth transcribing. " Malgre la 
grande reputation qu'ont eu ses ouvrages, il s'est trouve un 
homme assez temeraire pour soutenir que M. Godeau n'avoit 
aucun gout pour" la poesie, dans un libelle imprime sous ce titre 
aussi injurieux au charactere Episcopal qu'a la personne de M. 
Godeau, Godellus utrum Poeta ?" Ibid. p. 288. 
1 Appendix, Note SS. 



138 HOTTINGER. [Chap. 

made familiar to Protestants, and first shown them 
how greatly the history of God's dealings with his 
Church is calculated to minister to the personal 
edification of the believer. 

During this period, however, the Protestants 
showed no greater activity than the Roman Catho- 
lics. The condition of Church-history among the 
Lutherans continued much as I have already de- 
scribed it. Theology among them had become 
entirely scholastic, and they had lost all taste for 
historical investigation. The reformed branch of 
the Protestant body, having little sympathy with 
antiquity, had hitherto contributed little to the 
cultivation of Ecclesiastical studies. The work * of 

1 Historiae Ecclesiasticae Novi Testamenti Enneas, seu Pars 
Prima. Qua res Christianorum, Judseorum, Gentilium, Muham- 
medanorum, juxta novem, post natum Christum, primorum 
Seculorum seriem, breviter, succincte et aphoristice primo pro- 
ponuntur ; fusius deinde explicantur : capita etiam doctrinse, 
turn verae, per commodam et luculentam, uniuscujusque seculi 
Su/i/3i/3ao-ij/ ; turn falsae, per eXey^ov subjiciuntur, sicque ad 
multiplicem usum, necessarium rerum Ecclesiasticarum notitiam 
applicantur. Authore Joh. Henrico Hottingero, Tigurino. 
Hanoviae, anno 1655. This is the title of the first volume, 
which contains the history of the first nine centuries. The 
second volume comprises the tenth and eleventh ; the third, 
the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth ; and the remaining six 
volumes come down to the Council of Trent. It is in small 
octavo, and has never been reprinted. The brevity of the 
earlier, compared with the later part of the work, has led to an 
opinion, that the author gradually changed his plan. Schmid. 
Supplem. Sagittar. Introd. p. 199. 



III.] HOTTINGER. 139 

John Henry Hottinger, Professor of Ecclesias- 
tical History at Zurich, which appeared between 
1655 and 1667, was the first written by a member 
of that communion, which displayed an extensive 
and intimate acquaintance with the materials of 
Church-history. Even this treated but briefly of 
the events of the first fourteen centuries, and was 
minute only when it approached the period of the 
Reformation. But the writer has deservedly ac- 
quired distinction as one of the earliest who applied 
oriental learning to the illustration of the history 
of the Church. The learned Calvinists of France, 
whose studies lay in this direction, were engaged 
chiefly in the defence of the Presbyterian dis- 
cipline. Some of them, as Rivet, Blondel; and 
Daille, were men of great acuteness and considerable 
erudition, whose writings undoubtedly tended to 
the improvement of Ecclesiastical criticism, and 
secured for them the more equivocal praise of 
founding an antipatristic school. But they seem to 
have considered it as their vocation not to con- 
struct, but to demolish. They produced at most 
but dissertations and compendiums ; and as yet 
had given to the world no memorable work on 
Ecclesiastical History. 



140 ADVANCEMENT OF [Chap. 



SECTION II. 
from 1667 to 1715. 

ADVANCEMENT OF ECCLESIASTICAL LEARNING BENEDICTINES 

OF ST. MAUR MABILLON RISE OF THE GALLICAN SCHOOL OF 

CHURCH-HISTORY MAIMBOURG NATALIS ALEXANDER DU 

PIN PAGI TILLEMONT FLEURY ANGLICAN SCHOOL OF 

CHURCH-HISTORY CAVE DECLINE OF ECCLESIASTICALLEARN- 

1NG IN ENGLAND BINGHAM LE SUEUR F. SPANHEIM RE- 
VOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES J. BASNAGE S. BASNAGE 

CONDITION OF ECCLESIASTICAL LITERATURE IN GERMANY 

IMPROVED TOWARDS THE END OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 
ARNOLD THOMASIUS LE CLERC ESTIMATE OF THE PRO- 
GRESS OF CHURCH-HISTORY DURING THIS PERIOD. 

We have now to notice a state of things very dif- 
ferent to that of which we had to complain at the 
conclusion of the last section. The obstacles which 
had hitherto impeded the progress of Church-history 
rapidly pass away, and we have to trace its ad- 
vance towards a much higher degree of perfection 
than it had yet attained. The successful cultivation 
of the study of the Christian antiquities had gradu- 
ally prepared the way for this improvement. Hos- 
pinian had early directed the attention of the Pro- 
testants to this branch of Ecclesiastical knowledge : 
and in the former half of the seventeenth century 
it was zealously cultivated by several distinguished 
scholars in communion with the church of Rome. 



III.] ECCLESIASTICAL LEARNING. 141 

Petau * had traced the history of the Theological 
doctrines ; L'Aubespine 2 and Morin 3 had examined 
the rites and sacraments of the ancient Church ; 
De Marca 4 and Launoi had pointed out the relations 
between the Church and State ; and Leo Allatius 5 
had restored his countrymen the Greeks to their 
due rank in the Christian commonwealth. These, 
and a host of other writers, had introduced a taste 
for real learning and criticism. New materials of 
history had been brought to light, and those which 
were already known to exist had been rendered 
more accessible. The works of the Fathers and the 
ancient historians were, from time to time, published 
in more correct and inviting forms. The Bibliotheca 
Patrum 6 of De la Bigne, which, at its first appear- 
ance, had been treated with all the malice of narrow- 

1 Dionysii Petavii Dogmata Theologica. Paris, 1643. 
. 2 Gabr. Albaspinaei de Veteribus Ecclesiae Ritibus Observa- 
tionum libri ii. Paris. 1623. 

3 Joan. Morini Commentarius Historicus de Disciplina in 
Administratione Sacramenti Pcenitentise xiii. primis saeculis in 
Ecclesia observata. Paris. 1651. Joan. Morini Commentarius 
de Sacris Ecclesiae Ordinationibus. 1653. 

4 De Concordia Sacerdotii et Imperii. Paris. 1641. 

5 Especially in the following works : — De libris Ecclesiasticis 
Grascorum Dissertationes duae, 1645. De Ecclesiae Occidentalis 
atque Orientalis Perpetua Consensione libri tres, 1648. De 
utriusque Ecclesiae Occidentalis atque Orientalis Perpetua in 
Dogmate de Purgatorio Consensione, 1655. For an account of 
Leo Allatius (Leone Allaccio), and a catalogue of his works, 
see Fabr. Bibl. Graec. x. 405 — 414. 

6 Appendix, Note TT. 



142 BENEDICTINES OF ST. MAUR. [Chap. 

minded bigotry, had grown into seventeen folio 
volumes, and appeared in a seventh edition in 1654. 
Sirmond edited the writers of the middle a^es, 
Henri Valois the ancient Ecclesiastical historians, 
and Combefis the later Greek divines; and in 1643 
the Bollandists gave to the world the first fruits of 
the gigantic undertaking l which has not been com- 
pleted by the labours of an hundred and fifty years, 
and the publication of fifty-three folios. 

But without disparaging the merits of the many 
distinguished scholars whose labours so greatly con- 
tributed about this period to the advancement of 
historical knowledge, it is not too much to say that 
it was the efforts of a particular body which com- 
municated the great impulse, and produced the 
second or French school of Ecclesiastical history. 
The erection of the Congregation of St. Maur, in 
1621, was an event of no small importance to 
Ecclesiastical learning. The superiors of that famous 

1 Acta Sanctorum quotquot toto orbe coluntur, vel a Catho- 
licis Scriptoribus celebrantur, quae ex Latinis et Graecis, aliarum- 
que gentium antiquis monumentis collegit, digessit, notis illus- 
travit Joannes Bollandus Societatis Jesu Theologus, servata 
primigenia Scriptorum phrasi. Operam et studium contulit Gode- 
fridus Henschenius ejusdem Societ. Theologus. Prodit nunc 
duobus tomis Januarius, in quo mclxx. nominatorum Sanc- 
torum, et aliorum innumerabilium memoria, vel res gestae illus- 
rantur. Ceteri menses ex ordine subsequentur. Antverpiae, 
apud Joannem Meursium, anno 1643. The last volume (1794) 
comes down to* the 14th of October. After an interval of 
nearly half a century, the undertaking is now about to be re- 
sumed. See Appendix, Note UU. 



Ill] MABILLON. 143 

community, from its very first establishment ', di- 
rected the attention of their disciples to literary 
subjects ; and the names of the Benedictines, 
Menard and D'Achery, were soon enrolled among 
the most celebrated scholars of Europe. But though 
the Benedictines of St. Maur had already dis- 
tinguished themselves by their learning by the 
middle of the seventeenth century, their high repu- 
tation as a literary body was chiefly due to the 
example and influence of an illustrious individual 
who appeared some years later. Jean Mabillon 
was born in 1632, and entered upon his splendid 
career of letters in 1667. In that year his edition 
of St. Bernard attracted the notice of Ecclesiastical 
scholars, and furnished a sure pledge of the -value 
of his future labours. By the publication of the 
" Acts of the Saints of the Order of St. Benedict 2 ," 
(a collection already commenced by D'Achery,) and 
other ancient pieces, he largely contributed to the 
materials of history : his treatise on Diplomatic 3 at 

1 Tassin, Histoire Litteraire de la Congregation de Saint- 
Maur, Ordre de S. Benoit. Preface, p. v. et seq. 

2 Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti in Saeculorum classes 
distributa : Sasculum I. quod est ab anno Christi d. ad dc 
Collegit Domnus Lucas d'Achery, Congregationis Sancti Mauri 
Monachus, ac cum eo edidit D. Johannes Mabillon, ejusdem 
Congregationis, qui et universum opus notis, observationibus, 
indicibusque necessariis illustravit. Lutetiae Parisiorum, 1668. 
The ninth volume, the last which appeared, was published in 
1701. 

3 De re Diplomatica libri vi, in quibus quidquid ad veterum 



144 MABILLON. [Chap, 

once gave a new character and direction to historical 
studies ; and his " Benedictine Annals V' on which 
he was engaged to the time of his death, may be 
ranked among the most important works which 
have been written on the history of the Church. 
His unbounded learning, and his penetrating and 
comprehensive mind enabled him to discover new 
truths, and detect and expose inveterate errors. His 
amiable moderation and unaffected candour intro- 
duced into the discussion of Ecclesiastical subjects 
a better tone and spirit. But this was not the full 
extent of the services which he rendered to Church- 
history. The monastic habit could not restrain his 

instrumentorum antiquitatem, materiam, scripturam, etstilum; 
quidquid ad sigilla, monogrammata, subscriptiones ac notas 
chronologicas ; quidquid inde ad antiquariam, historicam, 
forensemque disciplinam, explicatur et illustratur. Accedunt 
Commentarius de antiquis Regum Francorum Palatiis : ve- 
terum scripturarum varia specimina, tabulis lx. comprehensa: 
nova ducentorum et amplius, monumentorum collectio. Opera 
et studio Dorani Johannis Mabillon, Presbyteri et Monachi 
Ordinis Sancti Benedicti, e Congregatione S. Mauri. Lutetian 
Parisiorum, 1681. 

1 Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti Occidentalium Monachorum 
Patriarchal. In quibus non modo res monasticae, sed etiam 
ecclesiastica3 historian non minima pars continetur. Auctore 
Domno Johanne Mabillon, &c. Lutetise Parisiorum, 1703. The 
fourth volume, the last of which Mabillon himself superintended 
the publication, extends to the year 1066, and appeared in 1707. 
Massuet completed and published the fifth volume in 1713. 
Martene completed the sixth, which comes down to the year 
1157, and which was not published till 1739. 



III.] MABILLON. 145 

mental independence, nor his religious peculiarities 
make him feel as a vulgar controversialist. He was 
the most prominent of a new race of scholars, who 
communicated to the whole subject a different 
character ; who separated it from polemical theo- 
logy, and assumed as a first principle that its sub- 
ject-matter was not controversy but facts. It was 
a new thing to see a congregation of monks taking 
the lead in a literary movement. But such was the 
case. The genius of Mabillon did much to purify 
and ennoble Church-history. Excited by his ex- 
ample and precepts, the French Benedictines de- 
voted themselves in an admirable spirit to the 
cultivation of Ecclesiastical learning, and distin- 
guished themselves in the republic of letters by the 
publication of a number of critical, philological, and 
antiquarian works connected with such studies, not 
more remarkable for their erudition than for their 
moderation and candour. 

Though the series of Benedictine authors afforded 
no one who wrote a general history of the Church, 
it is not incorrect to describe the French writers 
who did so much for Church-history in the latter 
part of the seventeenth century as the Benedictine 
school. They were all penetrated with a sincere 
respect for Mabillon and his fellow-labourers ; they 
all endeavoured, according to their respective ability, 
to pursue their researches in the same spirit ; and 
they were all, more or less, distinguished from the 
Roman catholic writers of other countries by an in- 

L 



146 MAIMBOURG. [Chap. 

dependence of thought and feeling, and a zealous 
desire to defend the liberties of the Gallican church. 
They all, moreover, thought that the cause of 
Church-history required a new and more correct 
examination of the documents and other materials 
of information, and that, to be studied to advantage, 
it should be studied not with an immediate view to 
controversy, but to discover truth. 

The rapid improvement which was effected in 
Church-history by the agency of these able men, 
was intimately connected with the political and 
literary condition of France at this period. The 
vigorous rule of Louis XIV. extended over every 
department of the social system. That magnificent 
prince would submit to no opposition, whether from 
Charenton or the Vatican. His pride was shocked 
by the Papal pretensions, and he was led alike by 
inclination and policy to humble the court of Rome, 
by encouraging the clergy of his own dominions to 
assert with boldness the privileges of the national 
church. The patronage which he afforded to litera- 
ture in general was not denied to learned church- 
men. The example of the sovereign and his ministers 
communicated to the nobility and prelates of France 
a disposition to appreciate and reward professional 
merit ; and, accordingly, it was but natural that 
Ecclesiastical studies should flourish not less than 
other branches of learning in the Augustan age of 
French literature. 

The flippant and insidious works of the Jesuit 



III.] NATALIS ALEXANDER. 147 

Maimbourg ', deserve notice chiefly as having set 
the example of that superficial manner of writing 
history, which at a later period disgraced the lite- 
rature of his country. But for a time they enjoyed 
the greatest popularity, and it must be confessed 
that his lively and striking manner probably dif- 
fused a taste for Ecclesiastical history, and caused 
it to be regarded as a branch of polite learning. The 
first writer who can be assigned to the new school, 
w T as the learned Dominican, Noel Alexandre, or 
Natalis Alexander. His work on the Ecclesias- 
tical history 2 of the first sixteen centuries origin- 

1 Schrokh, speaking of Maimbourg and Varillas, admirably 
says, Sie sind die wahren Muster und Vorlaufer von der neuern 
Franzosischen Art, die Historie mit einer Schminke zu iiberzie- 
hen, welche sie ganz unkenntlich macht; Anekdoten zu erzahlen, 
ohne sie durcb Zeugen zu bekraftigen ; um dem Leser zu 
gefallen, und Bewunderung bey him zu erregen, in einer artigen 
und witzegen Schreibart von der historischen Wahrheit nur so 
viel beyzubehalten, als ihnen anstandig ist ; desto mehr aber 
aus ihrer Einbildungskraft und ihrem fast immer zu friihzeitigen 
Urtheil dazu zu setzen : ein Bild das Voltaire zur Vollkom- 
menheit gebracht hat. Kirchengeschichte, i. 244. 

R,. P. Natalis Alexandri Ordinis FF. Prsedicatorum, in 
sacra Facultate Parisiensi Doctoris et emeriti Professoris, 
Historia Ecclesiastica Veteris Novique Testamenti, ab Orbe 
eondito ad annum post Christum natum millesimum sexcente- 
simum : et in lpca ejusdem insignia Dissertationes Historical, 
Chronological, Criticag, Dogmaticae. In octo divisa tomos : 
ante quidem per partes, nunc autem conjunctim et accuratius 
edita : rerum no varum accessione, Scholiis, et Indicibus locu- 
pletissimis aucta, illustrata, ornata. Parish's, 1699. This is 

L 2 



148 NATALIS ALEXANDER. [Chap. 

ally appeared, in octavo volumes, between 1676 
and 1687, and was reprinted in folio, with con- 
siderable additions, in 1699. Though decided in 
his attachment to the doctrines of his own com- 
munion, he distinguished himself by a bold advocacy 
of the Gallican principles, and an open hostility to 
the extravagant pretensions of the see of Rome. 
His work, accordingly, was condemned by Innocent 
XI. ; though, with an inconsistency not easily 
reconcileable with papal infallibility, the censures 
were removed some years after by Benedict XIII., 
a Dominican Pope 1 . It is a work of great merit. 
It is indeed rather a series of dissertations than a 
connected history ; and it possesses much too large 
a measure of the controversial character which had 
distinguished and disfigured the earlier works. But 
Alexander 2 recast his subject. He distributed it 
into centuries. He sought his information in the 
sources ; and diligently availed himself of all that 
had yet been done by the industry of other scholars. 
He is deservedly considered as one of the most 
learned and able historians of this period ; and some 

the title of the second edition. The general preface points out 
in what it differs from the first, which was in 24 volumes 8vo. 
There were three more Paris editions, 1715, 1726, 1736; one 
at Lucca with the notes of C. Roncaglia, 1734; and two at 
Venice with the notes of J. D. Mansi, 1771, 1778, all in folio. 
The most complete, and, I believe, the last edition, was pub- 
lished at Bingen, 1785—90, in twenty volumes 4to. 

1 Walch, Bibl. Theol. iii. 166. 

2 Appendix, Note VV. 



III.] DU PIN. 149 

well qualified to pronounce an opinion, have not 
hesitated to say 1 , that, in point of learning, his 
work is the best general Ecclesiastical history 
written by a member of the church of Rome. 

There are few writers on Ecclesiastical subjects, 
who have attained more extensive celebrity, than 
Louis Ellies Du Pin, whose "Library of the 
Ecclesiastical Authors" next demands our notice. 
Several attempts had already been made to illus- 
trate the literary history of the Church. Sixtus of 
Sienna 2 , Bellarmine 3 , Possevin 4 , Mirseus 5 , Labbe 6 , 
and others, had written accounts of the Ecclesias- 
tical writers. But these early attempts were all 
more or less chargeable with excessive brevity and 
incorrectness, and they were at once welf nigh 
superseded by the almost simultaneous publication 

1 Quod dedit Alexander, opus Histories Ecclesiastics insigne 
est ac merito inter scripta pontificiorum de rebus civitatis 
Christians principatum tuetur. Walch, Bibl. Theol. iii. 167. 
Sie ist das gelehrteste und beste Werk, das man bis auf unsere 
Zeiten iiber die gesammte Kirchenhistorie, von einem romisch- 
katholischen Schriftsteller erhalten hat. Schrockh, Kirchen- 
geschichte, i. 244. 

2 Bibliotheca Sancta. Venetiis, 1566. 

3 De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis Liber. Romae, 1613. 

4 Apparatus Sacer. Venetiis, 1603. 

5 Bibliotheca Ecclesiastica. Antverpiae, 1639. This con- 
tains not only the ancient Catalogists, but an auctarium by the 
editor. A second part containing further additions was pub- 
lished in 1649. 

6 Dissertatio Philologica et Historica de Scriptoribus Eccle- 
siasticis, quos attigit Bellarrainus. Parisiis, 1660. 



150 DU PIN. [Chap. 

of the learned works of Oudinus, Cave, and Du 
Pin. The last of these, with whom we are now 
concerned, was the earliest writer who employed a 
modern language in the composition of a systematic 
and extensive work on the subject connected with 
the higher departments of Ecclesiastical informa- 
tion. But the work which he projected and com- 
menced, was designed to be exclusively a literary 
history. It was in spite of himself that he became 
an Ecclesiastical historian. The manner in which 
he executed the first eight centuries of his " Nou- 
velle Bibliotheque 1 ," induced the celebrated Bossuet 
to interrupt his labours. That able prelate was 
too sagacious not to perceive, that it was written 
upon principles which if carried to their full extent 
would prove destructive to the Romish system. 
The learned Sorbonnist was therefore forbidden to 
proceed 2 . In order to evade the prohibition, he 
continued his undertaking under a different form 
and title 3 ; henceforth interweaving an account of 

1 Nouvelle Bibliotheque des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques, con- 
tenant l'histoire de leur vie, le catalogue, la critique, et la 
chronologie de leurs ouvrages ; le sommaire de ce qu'ils con- 
tiennent : un jugement sur leur style, et sur leur doctrine ; et 
le denombrement des differentes editions de leurs oeuvres. Par 
Mre L. Ellies Du Pin, Docteur de la Faculte de Paris, et 
Professeur Royal en Philosophic A Paris, 1686 — 1711. It 
was translated into English. London, 1692 — 1725. 

2 Ittig. Hist, Eccles. Sel. Cap. Prsefat. § lxv. Walch, Bibl. 
Theol. iii. 395—399. 

3 The new. title in the Paris edition was, Histoire des Con- 



III.] PAGI. 151 

the Ecclesiastical writers with a general history of 
the Church. At the time at which it was written, 
it was undoubtedly an important work, and must 
have had considerable influence on the progress of 
Church-history. The author was a man of exten- 
sive and various learning, and of an independent 
and candid mind. But he appears to have been a 
person of little originality. His liberality too fre- 
quently seems mere indifferentism ; and his book 
abounds throughout with evident marks of careless- 
ness and haste. The writer of these pages willingly 
acknowledges his obligations to an early guide, but 
it is right to warn the student that the work of Du 
Pin is very far from exhibiting the present state of 
Ecclesiastical knowledge. 

The work 1 of the learned Franciscan, Antoine 

troverses et des Matieres Ecclesiastiques traitees dans le Neu- 
vieme Siecle. 1694. In the Amsterdam reprint, (most of the 
volumes of which, however, hear the false date of Paris), the 
original title was continued throughout the whole work. 

1 Critica Historico-Chronologica in universos Annales Eccle- 
siasticos Eminentissimi et Reverendissimi Csesaris Cardinalis 
Baronii, in qua Rerum Narratio defenditur, illustratur, supple- 
tur, Ordo Temporum eorrigitur, innovatur, et Periodo Grseco- 
Romananunc primum concinnata munitur,auctore R. P.Antonio 
Pagi, Doct. Theol., Ordinis Minorum Convent. S. Francisci. 
Opus posthumum, quatuor tomis distinctum ; ab adventu 
Domini nostri Jesu Christi ad annum mcxcviii. perductum ; 
non solum Annales Ecclesiasticos, horumque Epitomen legen- 
tibus; sed etiam omnibus antiquitatis studiosis necessarium. 
Accedunt Catalogi decern veterum sum morum Pontificum 



\b°Z TILLEMONT. [Chap. 

Pagi, of which the first volume was published in 
1689, was a noble contribution to Church-history. 
It was written to correct the faults, and supply the 
omissions of Baronius ; and is still regarded as the 
most important work which has ever appeared on 
Ecclesiastical chronology. 

But scarcely any scholar of this period contri- 
buted more to the progress of Church-history, than 
the excellent and admirably learned Louis-Sebas- 
tien le Nain de Tillemont. His writings, which 
were mostly published after his death, may fairly be 
said to have exhausted the sources of history which 
had hitherto come to light, and to exhibit all that 
was known of the empire l and the Church during 
the first six centuries. But his great work 2 , (Me- 

hactenus inediti. Studio et cura R. P. Francisci Pagi, auc- 
toris nepotis, ejusdem ordinis Doctoris Theologi. Cum Indi- 
cibus locupletissimis. Editio novissima accuratior, ab ipsomet 
auctoris nepote plurimis in locis emendata, cui accessit Dis- 
sertatio Hypatica, seu de Consulibus Caesareis. Antverpiae, 
1727. This is the title of the second edition of the whole 
work. The volume published at Paris in 1689, contained only 
the first four centuries. The complete work was first pub- 
lished after the author's death, by his nephew, Francois Pagi, 
in 1705. 

1 L'Histoire des Empereurs et des autres Princes qui ont 
regne durant les six premiers Siecles. 1690, et seq. In six 
volumes 4to. 

2 Memoires pour servir a l'Histoire Ecclesiastique des six 
premiers Siecles, justifies par les citations des Auteurs Origi- 
naux ; avec une Chronologie, ou Ton fait un abrege de l'His- 



III.] FLEURY. 153 

moires pour servir a l'Histoire Ecclesiastique des six 
premiers Siecles), is correctly described by its title ; 
it is a magazine of materials, selected, arranged, and 
labelled, rather than a history. It is a book less 
suitable to be read than to be consulted. It is, 
however, a perfect model of historical research, not 
less admirable for its tone and spirit, than for its 
accuracy and learning. The scholar always turns 
to the pages of Tillemont with satisfaction, and the 
thoughtful student of Ecclesiastical history cannot 
but revere the memory of a writer in whom, after 
allowing for the peculiarities of a pious Romanist, 
he ever finds liberality without latitudinarianism, 
and candour without scepticism. 

The work, however, which must be admitted to 
have effected the greatest improvement in com- 
position and method, was the " Histoire Ecclesias- 
tique" of Claude Fleury ! ; the first volume of 
which appeared in 1691. This is in some respects 
one of the most memorable works which we have 

toire Ecclesiastique et Profane, et des Notes pour eclaircir les 
difficultez des faits et de la Chronologic A Paris, 1693 — 1712. 
In sixteen volumes 4to. 

1 Histoire Ecclesiastique par M. Fleury, Pretre, Abbe du 
Loc-Dieu, Sous-Precepteur de Monseigneur le Due de Bour- 
gogne et de Monseigneur le Due d'Anjou. A Paris, 1691. 
The last volume (the twentieth), which appeared in 1720. 
brought down the history to 1414. This edition was in quarto ; 
it has been several times reprinted in a smaller form. The 
continuation by Fabre (a Paris, 1726 — 40) is considered an 
inferior work. 



154 FLEURY. [Chap. 

to notice in the progress of Ecclesiastical history 
in modern times. It was the first which related 
the fortunes of the Church according to the re- 
ceived laws of historical narrative. The author was 
an accomplished man of letters, who from his 
residence in a polite court, and a long intercourse 
with nobles and princes, had gained elegance and 
refinement, without losing his personal simplicity, 
or his studious habits ; and was, accordingly, better 
fitted to strip Church-history of repulsive peculiar- 
ities, than men who had lived exclusively in the 
university or the cloister. He was a man of piety 
and sensibility, and his mind was well stored with 
professional learning. He was already known by 
his publications on Ecclesiastical subjects and polite 
literature. In undertaking his great work his views 
were modest. His object was, he tells us, rather to 
write a popular account of his subject, than a work 
of research and erudition \ But he is a writer of 

1 The following passage of the preface to the first volume 
deserves attention : — J'ecris pour les Chretiens, qui aiment leur 
religion, qui veulent s'instruire de plus en plus, et la reduire en 
pratique. Je n'ecris pas toutefois pour les theologiens et les 
gens de lettres : ils apprendront mieux l'histoire Ecclesias- 
tique dans les auteurs originaux dont je l'ay tiree. Si ce n'est 
que quelqu'un encore nouveau dans cette etude veiiille s'aider de 
mes citations, pour trouver plus facilement les pieces qu'il doit 
consulter. J'ecris principalement pour ceux de quelque con- 
dition qu'ils soient, qui n'ont ni les connoissances necessaires, 
ni le loisir, ni la commodite de lire tant de livres ; mais qui out 
de la foi, du bon sens, de l'amour pour la verite ; qui lisent 

8 



III.] FLEURY. 155 

no ordinary merit. He expressed in an easy and 
pleasing manner the result of the inquiries of the 
great scholars of his time, and advantageously in- 
troduced Church-history to the students of modern 
literature. We find in his writings no traces of 
deep reflection or comprehensive views, no impor- 
tant discoveries or original investigations ; but he 
produced an instructive and entertaining work. 
His " Histoire Ecclesiastique" L was edifying, judi- 
cious, candid; and favourably exhibited the state of 
Ecclesiastical knowledge in the church of Rome at 
the beginning of the eighteenth century. 

While the scholars of the Gallican church were 
thus nobly labouring in the cultivation of Church- 
history, our own countrymen were not idle in the 
same cause. During the period now before us, a 
number of illustrious Englishmen pursued Ecclesias- 

pour apprendre des verites utiles et en devenir meilleurs : qui 
veulent connoitre le Christianisme grand et solide comme il est ; 
et en separer tout ce que l'ignorance et la superstition y ont 
voulu meler de temps en temps. Je voy bien que cette histoire 
ne plaira pas aux petits esprits attaches a leurs prejuges, et 
toujours prests a condamner ceux qui les veulent desabuser : 
detournant leurs oreilles de la verite pour se tourner a des 
fables ; cherchant des docteurs selon leurs desirs. lis ne 
trouveront que trop d'autres livres selon leur goust. C'est 
pour me rendre utile au commun des personnes sensees que 
j'ecris en Francois, au hasard de ne pas asses bien exprimer la 
force du Latin et du Grec, et de m'ecarter de la purete de ma 
langue. 

1 A new edition is now in course of publication at Paris. See 
Appendix, Note VV*. 



156 ANGLICAN SCHOOL [Chap. 

tical studies with characteristic energy and judg- 
ment, and produced a series of works which require 
us still to point to the latter part of the seventeenth 
century as the brightest age of English learning. 

Many of our divines who flourished between the 
accession of Elizabeth and the Restoration, are 
justly celebrated for their Ecclesiastical knowledge. 
A familiar acquaintance with the works of the 
Fathers, and the other monuments of antiquity, has 
always distinguished the leading writers of the 
better schools of Anglican divinity ; and the con- 
stant allusions to the facts of Ecclesiastical story, 
which enrich the pages of our most eminent theo- 
logians, show the extent to which they cultivated 
this branch of professional study. But it is not till 
after the Restoration that we discover the existence 
of an English school of Church-history. Our earlier 
writers derived their learning immediately from the 
sources, or from books which had been written on 
the continent ; and they employed it, for the most 
part, in the composition of polemical and religious 
works. With the exception of Bishop Montague ', 
we can scarcely name a single person 2 who directly 

1 Analecta Ecclesiasticarum Exercitationum contra Baron- 
ium. Londini, 1622. Antidiatribse ad diatribas Bullengeri. 
Genevae, 1625. Apparatus ad Origines Ecclesiasticas. Col- 
lectore R. Montacutio, Oxoniae, 1635. QeavOpojiriKoy : seu de 
vita Jesu Christi Domini nostri Originum Ecclesiasticarum 
libri duo. Collectore Richardo Montacutio, Norwic. Episcopo. 
Londini, 1640. 

2 The writings of Archbishops Ussher and Laud, of John 



III.] OF CHURCH-HISTORY. 157 

contributed to the knowledge of Church-history. 
The circumstance is at once explained by a refer- 
ence to the position of the English church. While 
she was cruelly assailed by external and internal 
foes, her worthies were too much engaged in pro- 
viding for her immediate defence, to have leisure 
for any studies not absolutely needed by their pre- 
sent exigencies. 

At the period which I have mentioned, however, 
a different scene is presented. The church of 
England, after her temporary overthrow, enjoyed a 
season of prosperity and peace. Her divines, al- 
most universally emancipating themselves from the 
trammels of a Protestant scholasticism, which too 
many of them had hitherto condescended to bear, 
soared into a higher and purer atmosphere, and 
asserted her true position as a part of the Catholic 
Church. New views now opened upon them ; new 
duties were to be performed. The domestic enemy 
which had for a time been successful, lay exhausted 
by his own violence. The events of twenty years of 
confusion furnished the best and most compendious 
refutation of Puritanism. The Anglican scholars, 
with conscious superiority, calmly undertook the 
exposition of their own system, and scarcely deigned 
to notice the faint struggles of their prostrate foe. 
An admirable band applied themselves to the illus- 
tration of various interesting points of early Church- 

Selden, and Bishops Jewell, Hall, and Jer. Taylor, are strictly 
polemical. 



158 ENGLISH WRITERS. [Chap. 

history with acuteness and sagacity not inferior to 
their orthodoxy and learning. Three illustrious 
prelates deserve particular mention : Pearson l 
maintained the genuineness of the earliest remains 
of Christian Antiquity ; Beveridge 2 vindicated the 
primitive canons ; and Bull 3 defended the ortho- 
doxy of the ante-Nicene divines. While the 
learned, but eccentric, Irishman, Henry Dodwell 4 , 
cultivated the antiquities of the same period with 
equal zeal and diligence, though not with equal 
judgment. 

1 Vindiciae Epistolarum S. Ignatii. Cantab. 1672. Annales 
Cyprianici, prefixed to the Oxford edition of St. Cyprian, 1682. 
De serie et successione primorum Romae Episcoporum Disser- 
tationes duae, — in his Opera Posthuma edited by H. Dodwell 
in 1688. 

2 ^vvohKov sive Pandectse Canonum SS. Apostolorum, et 
Conciliorum ab Ecclesia Grseca receptorum ; nee non Canoni- 
carum SS. Patrum Epistolarum : una cum Scholiis Antiquorum 
singulis eorum annexis, et Scriptis aliis hue spectantibus : quo- 
rum plurima e Bibliothecae Bodleianae aliarumque MSS. Codi- 
cibus nunc primum edita : reliqua cum iisdem MSS. summa 
fide et diligentia collata. Totum opus in duos tomos divisum 
Guilielmus Beveregius Ecclesiae Anglicanae Presbyter recen- 
suit, Prolegomenis munivit, et Annotationibus auxit. Oxonii, 
1672. Codex Canonum Ecclesiae Primitivae vindicatus ac 
illustratus. Autore Guilielmo Beveregio Ecclesiae Anglicanae 
Presbytero. Londini, 1678. 

3 Defensio Fidei Nicaenae. Oxon. 1685. Judicium Ecclesiae 
Catholicae trium primorum seculorum de necessitate credendi quod 
Dominus Noste.r Jesus Christus sit verus Deus. Oxon. 1694. 

4 Dissertationes Cyprianicae, appended to the Oxford Cyprian, 
Dissertationes in Irenaeum. Oxon. 1689. 



III.] CAVP1 159 

The name of one Englishman deserves a separate 
notice. The works of William Cave 1 rank un- 
doubtedly among those which have affected the 
progress of Church-history. His smaller works 
greatly tended to extend an acquaintance with 
Christian Antiquity ; his " Lives of the Apostles 
and Primitive Fathers," which may be regarded as 
an Ecclesiastical history of the first four centuries, 
is to this very day the most learned work of the 
kind which has been written in our own language ; 
and his " Historia Literaria 2 " is still the best and 

1 Primitive Christianity, or the religion of the ancient Christ- 
ians in the first ages of the Gospel. London, 1673. Charto- 
phylax Ecclesiasticus. Londini, 1674. Dissertation concern- 
ing the Government of the ancient Church. London, 1683. 

Antiquitates Apostolicse : or, the Lives, Acts, and Martyrdoms 
of the Holy Apostles of our Saviour. To which are added the 
lives of the two Evangelists SS. Mark and Luke. By William 
Gave, D.D. Chaplain in ordinary to his Majesty. London, 1675. 

Apostolici: or the History of the Lives, Acts, Death, and Mar- 
tyrdoms of those who were contemporary with, or immediately 
succeeded, the Apostles. As also the most eminent of the 
Primitive Fathers for the first three hundred years. To which 
is added, a Chronology of the three first ages of the Church. 
By William Cave, D.D. London, 1677. 

Ecclesiastici : or, the History of the Lives, Acts, Death, and 
Writings of the most Eminent Fathers of the Church, that 
flourished in the Fourth Century. Wherein, among other things, 
an account is given of the rise, growth, and progress of Arianism, 
and all other sects of that age descending from it. Together 
with an introduction, containing an historical account of the 
state of Paganism under the first Christian Emperours. By 
William Cave, D.D. London, 1683. 

2 Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Historia Literaria a Christo 



160 CAVE. [Chap. 

most convenient complete work on the literary his- 
tory of the Church. For extent and variety of 
learning he stands high among the scholars of his 
time, and he had taste and feeling to appreciate 
ancient piety ; but he can scarcely claim any other 
praise. His respect for antiquity sometimes dege- 
nerates into mere credulity; while, on the other 
hand, he is not altogether free from Protestant pre- 
judices ; and we look into his works in vain for 
comprehensive views or independent opinions. Yet 
his well-directed industry deserves everlasting grati- 
tude. Few writers on these subjects have composed 
works which have been more permanently useful ; 
and it was a happy circumstance that so popular 

nato usque ad Saeculum xiv. facili methodo digesta. Qua de 
Vita illorum ac rebus gestis, de Secta, Dogmatibus, Elogio, 
Stylo ; de Scriptis genuinis, dubiis, supposititiis, ineditis, de- 
perditis, Fragmentis ; deque variis Operum Editionibus per- 
spicue agitur. Accedunt Scriptores Gentiles, Christiana? Reli- 
gionis Oppugnatores ; et cujusvis Saeculi Breviarium. Inseruntur 
suis locis Veterum aliquot Opuscula et Fragmenta, turn Graeca, 
turn Latina hactenus inedita. Praemissa denique Prolegomena, 
quibus plurima ad Antiquitatis Ecclesiastical studium spectantia 
traduntur. Opus Indicibus necessariis instructum. Autore 
Guilielmo Cave, SS. Theol. Profes. Canonico Windesoriensi. 
Accedit ab alia manu Appendix ab ineunte saeculo xiv. ad 
annum usque mdxvii. Londini, 1688. A supplement was 
published in 1698 ; and the whole was reprinted more than once 
at Geneva, and Basil. See Walch, Bibl. Theol. iii. 393. The 
best edition is that of Oxford, 1740. We can look only to 
Oxford for a new edition adapted to the present state of Eccle- 
siastical learning. Such a book would be invaluable to the 
students of Church-history. 



III.] WHARTON— ECHARD. 161 

a writer should have distinguished himself by his 
firm adherence to the principles of the Catholic 
Church, 

The contributions which were made by Henry 
Wharton 1 to the " Historia Literaria," as well as 
some of his other works, have secured for that inde- 
fatigable and precocious scholar a place among the 
English writers of Church-history. And the " Eccle- 
siastical History" of Laurence Echard 2 , though a 
compilation of little value, was at least an attempt 
to introduce the discoveries of the continental 
inquirers to English readers. The history of our 
own Church was illustrated, or obscured, by Burnet, 
Strype, Collier, and many other writers. But from 
the period of the Revolution the English school of 
Church-history rapidly declined. The noble tree 

1 Appendix ad Historiam Literariam CI. V. Gulielmi Cave, 
in qua de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis ab anno mccc. ad annum 
mdxvii. pari methodo agitur. Authore Henrico Wharton, 
A. M. Rmo in Christo Ptri ac Dno Archiepiscopo Cantuarensi 
a Sacris Domesticis. Londini, 1689. 

2 A general Ecclesiastical history from the Nativity of our 
Blessed Saviour to the first Establishment of Christianity by 
Human Laws, under the Emperour Constantine the Great. 
Containing the space of about 313 years. With so much of the 
Jewish and Roman history as is necessary and convenient to 
illustrate the work. To which is added a large Chronological 
Table of all the Roman and Ecclesiastical affairs included in the 
same period of time. By Lawrence Echard, A.M. Prebendary 
of Lincoln, and Chaplain to the Right Reverend James, Lord 
Bishop of that Diocese. London, 1702. fol. It was several 
times reprinted in 2 vols. 8vo. 

M 



162 BINGHAM. [Chap. 

which, under the assiduous culture of a generous 
race of divines, had begun to afford shelter and 
ornament to the Church of England, withered under 
the chilling influence of the Latitudinarians. The 
circumstances of the times rendered mediocrity and 
plain sense more acceptable to those whose duty it 
was to protect the interest of the Church, than 
genius and erudition. The men who most success- 
fully cultivated Ecclesiastical studies, were most of 
them connected with what was generally regarded 
as an anti-national party. Patronage was hence- 
forth extended to churchmen of a very different 
sort. The primacy of Tillotson marked the com- 
mencement of a season of decay ; and though his 
three immediate successors l were themselves dis- 
tinguished scholars, it was impossible to stay the 
malady, which quickly destroyed this noble school 
of learning. 

But, like the tropical sun, it set in a blaze of 
light. The immortal work 2 of Joseph Bingham, 
though not a Church-history, is one of the most 
valuable contributions which has ever been made to 
Ecclesiastical knowledge. His contemporaries, how- 
ever, ill appreciated his labours. He was allowed 

1 Tenison, 1694; Wake, 1715; Potter, 1736. 

2 Origines Ecclesiasticae : or, the Antiquities of the Christian 
Church. London, 1708 — 22, in ten volumes 8vo. and again 
in 1726 with his works in 2 vols. fol. The Latin translation, 
by J. H. Grischovius, has been twice printed in Germany ; 
1724, and 1751. 



III.] LE SUEUR. 163 

to remain in obscurity, and was enabled to com- 
plete his great undertaking only by private muni- 
ficence. Though well known and highly esteemed 
on the Continent in a Latin translation, at home it 
had to encounter the neglect of nearly a century. 
But we are doing justice to Bingham now ; and it 
is matter for sincere rejoicing that the theological 
students and clergy of the Church of England have 
at last learned to Value the " Christian Anti- 
quities 1 ." 

We return to the Continent, and find that the 
Protestants have received the impulse which in the 
latter part of the seventeenth century had been 
communicated to Ecclesiastical studies, and are 
warmly pursuing researches in the field so diligently 
cultivated by the other scholars of Europe. I ob- 
served at the conclusion of the last section, that the 
writers of the Reformed communion had, before the 
time of Hottinger, produced no considerable work 
on the general history of the Church. During 
the period with which we are now concerned, we 
cannot at all events complain of their silence. 
In the year 1674, Jean Le Sueur commenced 
in French a work 2 intended to exhibit a popular 

1 A new edition in eight volumes was published in 1834 ; 
and another is announced as being in the press. 

2 Histoire de 1'Eglise et de l'Empire, oii depuis la Naissance 
de Jesus-Christ (jusqua la fin du x. Siecle) Ton voit dans 
chaque annee, l'an de Nostre Seigneur, de l'Empereur, des 
Consuls, et du Siege des Evesques de Rome ; les Evesques 

M 2 



164 SPANHEIM. [Chap. 

view of the subject, which he continued to the 
end of the tenth century. And a few years later, 
Frederic Spanheim, of Leyden, a writer of great 
acuteness and learning, composed in Latin a history 
of the Church l . But the work of the latter, 
which in point of talent has the greater claims to 
notice, is rather a common-place book of the pole- 
mics of Ecclesiastical history than a connected nar- 
rative. It was expressly written to refute the mis- 
representations of the Romanists, and breathes 
throughout a controversial spirit utterly inconsistent 
with the calmness and gravity which ought to pre- 
vail in historical composition. 

The controversial warfare which was occasioned 
by the persecuting measures adopted by Louis XIV. 
towards his Calvinistic subjects, was carried on with 

des autres Eglises, les Docteurs, leurs Ecrits, les Heretiques, les 
Coutumes, les Conciles, les Persecutions, les Martyrs, et en un 
mot les choses les plus remarquables tant de l'Eglise que du 
Monde. Avec une ample Table des Matieres. Par Jean le 
Sueur. A Geneve, 1674 et seq. The first edition was in 4to. 
The second, 1686, in eight volumes 12mo. A new edition in 
eight volumes 4to., with a continuation in three more by Bene- 
dict Pictet, appeared at Amsterdam in 1730-2. 

1 Friderici Spanhemii F. Historia Ecclesiastica a nato Christo 
ad cceptam superiore Sec. Reformationem. Inseruntur Muta- 
tiones insigniores in Republica. I copy this title from the 
folio edition of his works, torn. i. p. 480. (Lugd. Batavorum, 
1701.) But I find from Walch (Bibl. Theol. iii. 55.) that the 
different editions published by the author himself had different 
titles. The first part seems to have appeared in 1683. 



Ill] THE FRENCH PROTESTANTS. 165 

more than common bitterness and animosity. The 
Protestant writers who took part in it, had most of 
them suffered from the tyranny of the oppressor. 
They had been the victims of grievous injustice ; 
and they were not more affected by a sense of their 
wrongs, than they were indignant to find insult 
added to injury, in the affected mildness and mode- 
ration of the writings in which some of their most 
unfeeling and unrelenting enemies appealed to the 
world. Influenced as they were by the feelings 
natural to their peculiar circumstances, they were 
not in a condition to pursue, with success, the study 
of Church-history. Irritation and resentment ill 
prepared them for an employ which may well be 
called sacred. It would have been but pious, if, 
like the hero of the iEneid, they had regarded 
themselves as polluted, in combating even for their 
homes, and scrupled to handle a hallowed thing till 
they were able to think and write with calmness. 

Me, bello e tanto digressum et caede recenti, 
Adtrectare nefas ; donee me flumine vivo 
Abluero. 

But their very unfitness operated as a stimulus to 
their activity. They were eager to wrest from their 
antagonists every weapon which could be used 
against them. They were more anxious to obtain 
a victory, than scrupulous about the means by which 
it might be achieved, or solicitous about the con- 
sequences by which it might be followed. And, 



166 J. BASNAGE. [Chap. 

accordingly, we find that in maintaining their own 
views of the subject and impugning those of their 
opponents, they did not hesitate to assail the most 
venerable facts, nor to call in question the most 
sacred principles. 

The most important work which was produced 
under the circumstances to which I allude, was the 
" Histoire de l'Eglise" of the celebrated Jacques 
Basnage \ It was professedly written in reply to 
the " Histoire des Variations des Eglises Protes- 
tantes" of Bossuet. He met the argument of that 
artful attack on protestantism in a way little calcu- 
lated to serve the cause of Christianity, and follow- 
ed his countryman Jurieu in plying the invidious 
task of exposing the inconsistencies of the ancient 
Church 2 . Anxious at all hazards to gain an advan- 
tage over his eloquent opponent, he traces the his- 

1 Histoire de l'Eglise, depuis Jesus-Christ jusqu'a present, 
divisee en quatre parties. La premiere contient l'histoire du 
Gouvernement de l'Eglise dans ses dioceses d'Alexandrie, 
d'Antioche, d'Afrique, des Gaules, de Constantinople, et de 
Rome. La seconde, l'histoire de ses principaux Dogmes, du 
Canon des Ecritures, des Traditions, des huit Conciles (Ecu- 
meniques, de la Justification, de la Grace, et de l'Eucharistie. 
La troisieme contient celle de l'adoration du Sacrement, du 
Culte des Anges, de la Vierge, des Saints, de leurs Reliques, et 
de leurs Images, depuis Jesus-Christ jusqu'a la naissance des 
Albigeois. Et la quatrieme, l'histoire des Albigeois, et de la 
Succession de l'Eglise, jusqu'a present. Par Monsr. Basnage. 
A Rotterdam, 1699. 2 vols, folio. 

2 Appendix, Note WW. 



Ill] J. BASNAGE. 167 

tory of the government, the doctrine and worship of 
the Church, carefully pointing out the variations 
which have prevailed in different times and countries. 
His extensive learning and great acuteness well 
fitted him for historical inquiries, and I am not 
aware that there is any reason to suspect his personal 
orthodoxy. But though bearing the character of a 
Christian minister, Basnage was a man of the world, 
and had evidently little feeling for the sacredness of 
Church-history. His book is not only essentially 
a work of controversy, but is withal disfigured by 
the pertness and flippancy not unfrequent in French 
writers, and an unfortunate tone of levity and satire. 
An affectation of moderation ill conceals the par- 
tisan and the advocate. We look in vain for ~ im- 
partiality in one who displays alternately the cap- 
tiousness of the sceptic, and the obstinacy of the 
bigot. He had no correct conception of the ob- 
jects of Church-history, nor any acquaintance with 
the true genius of historical composition ; yet his 
keen and searching exposures of the prejudices of 
his opponents, and his ingenious vindication of his 
own, entitle his work to attention. It exercised a 
considerable influence on future inquirers; but it 
was an influence which was not salutary. Its effect 
was rather to retard than accelerate the progress of 
the science. He was rather a man of detail, than 
of elevated or comprehensive views ; and his ex- 
ample rather tended to perpetuate the polemical 
manner which others, who made less pretension to 



168 S. BASNAGE. [Chap. 

liberality, had begun tacitly to abandon, than to 
raise his subject to the dignity of genuine history. 

The " Annals" of Samuel Basnage \ which ap- 
peared in 1706, may be described as a work of 
learning. But the author avowedly wrote with a 
controversial purpose. He was devoted to the doc- 
trines and discipline of the Reformed communion ; 
and he had not the genius and originality which 
have sometimes enabled writers of equally exclusive 
principles, to exert an influence on the whole Christ- 
ian world. 

The domestic differences which exercised the in- 
dustry and learning of the Lutheran divines, appear 
to have been the chief cause which prevented their 
taking an early part in that remarkable revival of 
Ecclesiastical studies which I have had to notice in 
the present section. The Syncretistic controversy 2 , 
which raged so violently in the middle of the seven- 
teenth century, and the disputes with the Pietists 3 , 
which were carried on some years later, engrossed 

1 Samuelis Basnagii Flottemanvillaei, Annales Politico-Eccle^ 
siastici Annorum dcxlv. a Caesare Augusto ad Phocam usque. 
In quibus Res Imperii Ecclesiseque observatu digniores sub- 
jiciuntur oculis, erroresque evelluntur Baronio. Roterodami, 
1706. Three vols. fol. 

2 Mosheim, Instit. Hist. Eccles. Saec. xvii. Sect. ii. P. ii. C. 
i, § xxi— xxv. p, 826—830. Vol. iv.p. 29—37- of Maclaine's 
Translation, Edit. 1826. Schrockh, Kirchengeschichte seitder 
Reformation. Th. iv. S. 688. u. f. 

3 Mosheim, ut supra, § xxvi — xxxi. p. 830 — 835. Maclaine, 
Vol. iv. p. 37—46. Schrockh, Th. viii. S. 254. u. I 



TIL] CALLIXTUS. 169 

the energy of Protestant Germany ; and it was not 
till the very conclusion of the century that we dis- 
cover in that country any indications which mani- 
fest the existence of a taste for Church-history. 
During the long interval between the publication 
of the " Magdeburg Centuries" and this period, the 
Evangelical church had done scarcely anything for 
Ecclesiastical learning. Compendiums, indeed, had 
appeared in abundance *, vying, as it were, with each 
other in dryness and tenuity ; but scarcely the least 
disposition had been evinced for original research. 
The thirty years' war had extended a wide-spread 
desolation ; and when peace and liberty returned, 
the national temper unhappily found a congenial 
pursuit in the unprofitable subtil ties of philosophical 
theology. During this season of barrenness, the 
celebrated Georg. Callixtus 2 was almost the only 

1 Schrockh, after complaining of the little that was done for 
Church-history in Germany during this period, happily remarks : 
Man wird mir hoffentlich nicht den Entwurf machen, dass doch 
genug kleine Ausziige und Compendien der Kirchenhistorie in 
vorigen Jahrhunderte miter uns geschrieben worden sind. Ja 
wohl genug; aber eben diese sind immer der schlechteste 
Beweis von dem Fortgange einer Wissenschaft. Sie enthalten 
meistentheils nur den bekannten Umfang derselben, nach einer 
veranderten Ordnung beschrieben, oder mit einem so geringen 
neuen Zuwachs bereichert, dass er im wenige besondere Anmer- 
kungen hatte gebracht werden konnen. Kirchengeschichte, Th. 
i. S. 170. , 

2 Historia de Statu rerum in Ecclesia Occidentali seculis viii. 
ix. x. et deinceps, quando Pontiflcius dominatus et corrupted 



170 GERMAN WRITERS. [Chap. 

German writer who contributed to the advancement 
of Church-history by the production of an original 
work ; and of the numerous compilations, the Gotha 
Compendium 1 , as it is called, was the only one 
which had any claim to more than ordinary merit. 
But better times succeeded. By the end of the 
century the spirit of the Gallican scholars had been 
transmitted beyond the Rhine ; and the Germans at 
length betook themselves to the study of Ecclesias- 
tical history with characteristic industry. Christian 
Kortholt 2 , Adam Reckenberg 3 , Thomas Ittig 4 , 

invaluerunt. Appended to his Adparatus Theologicus, Helm- 
stadii, 1657. Walch, Bibl. Theol. iii. 174. 

i Compendium Historiae Ecclesiastics, decreto Ser. Principis 
Ernestiin usum Gymnasii Gothani compositum. Gothae, 1666 — 
70. Walch, Bibl. Theol. iii. 53. 

2 De vita et moribus, Christianis primaevis per Gentilium 
malitiam afflictis. Kilonii, 1683, 4to. And several other works 
on the primitive Church. 

3 Summarium Historiae Ecclesiastics. Lipsiae, 1697, 12mo. 
Of this there have been eight or nine editions. But his Dis- 
sertations Historico-politicae are regarded as the most valuable 
of his works. 

4 Dissertatio de Haeresiarchis iEvi Apostolici et Apostolico 
proximi ; seu primi et secundi a Christo nato Seculi. Lipsiae, 
1690, 4to. De Bibliothecis et Catenis Patrum, variisque 
veterum Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum collectionibus Tractatus. 
Lipsiae, 1707, 8vo. An exceedingly useful work. Historiae 
Ecclesiasticae primi a Christo nato Seculi Selecta Capita, deli- 
neata studio D. Thomae Ittigii, Superint. et Theqjogiae Pro- 
fessoris in Ecclesia et Academia Patria Lipsiensi. Praemissa 
est ejusdem de Scriptoribus Historiae Ecclesiasticae recentioribus 



III.] ARNOLD. 171 

and Johann Andreas Schmid l , distinguished 
themselves by works of real and extensive eru- 
dition, and opened a new career to the enterprise 
and perseverance of their countrymen. 

Valuable, however, as were the services of these 
eminent men, and greatly as we are indebted to the 
founders of a new school of solid learning, the 
utmost they did was to bring up their countrymen 
to the point already attained elsewhere, without 
enriching their subject with any new discoveries, or 
treating it in an improved or novel method. The 
work written in this part of Europe which excited 
the greatest attention, and produced the greatest 
and most permanent effects, was written by a person 
greatly their inferior in acquirements, and, perhaps, 
in talents. Revolutionists have rarely been men of 
unusual learning or the highest order of abilities ; 
and it was nothing less than a revolution which 
Gottfried Arnold attempted in Church-history. 
The excitement occasioned by the opinions and 

Dissertatio. Lipsiae, 1709, 4to. A posthumous volume, con- 
taining the history of the second century, and a dissertation on 
the ancient Ecclesiastical historians, was published in 1711. 
Several of his other works are also important. 

1 Compendium Historise Ecclesiasticae. Helmstadii, 1701, 
8vo. Several times reprinted. Sagittarianas Introductionis in 
Historiam Ecclesiasticam, tomus ii. exhibens Supplementa 
tomi primi et ejusdem Continuationem de Conciliis et Colloquiis. 
Curante Jo. Andr. Schmidio, D. PP. Ord. Theol. in Academia 
Julia Seniore et Abbate Marias vallen si. Jense, 1718. 



172 ARNOLD. [Chap. 

conduct of the Pietists, important as it has been in 
its effects to Christianity in Germany, produced at 
the time nothing more remarkable than the writings 
of this extraordinary man. He had, early in life, 
become connected with that party ; and he appears 
to have surpassed them all in hostility to the pre- 
vailing methods of studying theology, and in attach- 
ment to the visionary principles of the mystics. 
Notwithstanding all his inconsistencies, he seems 
to have been a disinterested and pious man : and it 
is not unlikely that the irritating disease which 
brought him to the grave at the age of eight-and- 
forty, produced the most unsatisfactory points in 
his character. Regarding the conduct of the clergy 
as the chief obstacle to the attempts made by 
Spener and his associates to procure a reformation 
of the Lutheran church, and provoked by the 
charges of heresy with which those indefatigable, 
and, many of them, most excellent men, were 
assailed by the same body, he composed an elaborate 
work on Ecclesiastical history, in which he endea- 
voured to show that the clergy of all ages had been 
the principal enemies of vital religion ; and that the 
persons who, by the influence of the priesthood, 
had been branded as heretics, were, for the most 
part, men of unusual piety, of whom an evil world 
was not worthy, and whose views and conduct it 
could not understand. His book was intituled an 
" Impartial History of the Church and the Here- 



III.] ARNOLD. 173 

tics l ;" yet there was never, perhaps, a book more 
singularly deficient in impartiality. From first to 
last he never loses sight of his main object — con- 
stantly putting in the most suspicious and odious 
light the conduct of the spirituality, and palliating 
or justifying the opinions of the heretical sects 2 . 

Though the orthodox of every age were the 
favourite objects of his insinuations and invective, 
his own communion had the greatest cause to 
complain of his unfairness. It was the Lutheran 
doctors who were treated with the greatest severity, 

1 It was originally printed at Frankfort on the Main, in 
1699, 1700. But my copy belongs to the Schaffhausen edition 
of 1740 — 42, said to be the fourth ; which, in three large folios, 
contains not only the author's improvements, but the principal 
pieces written in the controversy occasioned by the appearance 
of the work. The title is, Gottfried Arnold's unpartheyische 
Kirchen-und-Ketzerhistorien, vom Anfang des neuen Testa- 
ments biss auf das Jahr Christi, 1688. bey dieser neuen Auflage, 
an vielen Orten, nach dem Sinn und Verlangen des seel. 
Auctoris, verbessert, vermehret, und in bequemere Ordnung 
gebracht, und mit dessen Bildnus und LebenslaufF gezieret. 

2 The author of the panegyrical account of his life, prefixed 
to the edition of his work which I have before me, thus fairly 
describes its object : Das gantze Werck dieses Buchs aber 
gehet dahin, zu beweisen : (1.) Dass oft mancher Gottseliger 
erleuchteter Mann, wie Christus Jesus und seine Jiinger und 
Apostel, unschuldig verketzert werden. (2.) Dass die Vorste- 
her der Kirchen, Bischoffe, Hirten und Lehrer insgemein die 
Verfolger der wahren Christen gewesen, und Spaltungen ange- 
richtet. (3.) Dass die Concilien und Synoden meistes aus 
zancksuchtigen Leuten, die Gottes Geist nicht gehabt haben, 
bestanden. 



174 ARNOLD. [Chap. 

and the Lutheran institutions which were most 
cruelly exposed. It was, indeed, this bold attack 
on his own communion which made his book noto- 
rious, and procured for its principles an opportunity 
to do their work. The part which treats of the 
ancient Church is of no great extent, and displays 
but moderate learning. His apologies for the here- 
tical teachers show no extraordinary acuteness or 
originality 1 . The personalities, however, were more 
piquant than the paradoxes. Together, they were 
amply sufficient to make amends for the dulness of 
the mysticism. Though it excited a storm of opposi- 
tion 2 , though it raised against the author a host of 
adversaries 3 , and found few willing publicly to defend 
it, it ultimately had its full effect. At first its influ- 
ence seemed beneficial. It stimulated more learned 
and judicious men to attempt a real reform. But 

1 Appendix, Note XX. 

2 The violence with which the controversy was conducted 
may be estimated from the following remarks of Ittigius, a 
moderate writer. Nihil minus est hsec ecclesiastica historia, 
quam eine unpartheyische Historic Omnis candor, omnis 
fides hie prorsus exulat. Mendaciis, calumniis, variisque stro- 
phis, falsis allegationibus, corruptis, mutilatis, in alienum sen- 
sum detortis Autorum verbis, omnia sunt referta. Kv(3eia et 
iravovpyiq irpbg ty\v fxedodeiav r^g Tr\avr\Q utramque in hoc opere 
facit paginam. Hist. Eccles. Sel. Cap. Tom. i. Praef. § 68. 

3 The pieces which appeared in the controversy are enume- 
rated by Ittigius (Hist. Eccles. Sel. Cap. Tom. i. Praef. § 68), 
Schmid (Supplem. Sagittar. Introd. in Hist. Eccles. p. 189 — 
194), and Walch (Bibl. Theol. iii. 130—5). 

• 8 



III.] THOMASIUS. 175 

its natural consequences at length became apparent. 
It had set the fatal example of unbounded scep- 
ticism, and must be stigmatized as the first effort 
in the crusade against every thing holy and vene- 
rable, which has since been carried on with so much 
success in Protestant Germany. 

Arnold himself, however, scarcely deserves the 
praise or blame with which we should mark our 
estimate of the consequences of his undertaking. 
He was but the instrument of a more able man. 
Christian Thomasius, under whose advice and 
guidance he wrote, had indeed formed a regular 
plan for lowering the authority of the clergy, and 
diffusing his anti-ecclesiastical principles. Yet the 
full extent of the effect of the work was probably 
not foreseen or intended even by Thomasius. The 
shaft aimed at a vulgar combatant has ere now 
brought down a hero, and determined the fate of a 
battle ; and the book which Arnold wrote to ex- 
pose the Lutheran clergy, brought about the great- 
est change ever effected in Church-history. He 
laboured only for a present purpose. He was too 
much of an enthusiast to be actuated by ulterior 
views. It was in the spirit of a Carolstadt that he 
entered the temple armed with the weapons of 
destruction : though he dashed in pieces the images, 
and cast out every thing which he looked upon as 
an abomination, he deemed himself the while en- 
gaged in a work of purification, not of sacrilege ; 



176 LE CLERC. [Chap. 

and blind as was his undiscriminating violence, and 
actuated as he was by human passions, he regarded 
himself as engaged in the cause of God. He la- 
boured only for a present purpose. He saw not 
that some would raise from the ruins which he had 
made, a fairer edifice ; nor that others would em- 
ploy the weapons of which he had taught the use, 
in assailing Christianity. But though we may ac- 
quit him of deliberate mischief, his name must 
remain inseparably connected with what we shall 
have most to deplore in the succeeding period. His 
violent attack broke the spell, which as yet had 
bound the great body of Protestants to antiquity. 
The Lutherans had hitherto, from what some will 
call superstition, and others Christian feeling, uni- 
formly entertained a deep respect for the ancient 
Church. This feeling was now violated. A prin- 
ciple so subtle and delicate was easily destroyed ; 
and when there was no filial reverence to aid the 
sense of duty, Church-history was soon divested of 
its sacredness, and degraded into a branch of merely 
human knowledge. 

In the mean time, in another part of Europe, a 
more celebrated scholar was exercising a more 
direct, and, at the time at least, a still more noxious 
influence on the study of Christian antiquity. Gott- 
fried Arnold, though a rash enthusiast, was, after 
all, a serious and well-intentioned man : Jean le 
Clerc was a heartless sceptic. Born and educated 



III.] LE CLERC. 177 

at Geneva, he proceeded through every degree of 
the descending scale of religious opinion. Connec- 
ted, during the greater part of his life, by profes- 
sion and office with the Remonstrants of Holland, he 
scarcely disguised his real Socinianism or infidelity. 
The dangerous nature of his theological views is 
well known. For an estimate of his scholarship, 
I need only refer to Bishop Monk *, and for an ex- 
posure of his anti-patristic principles to Muratori 2 . 
His various information, and his lively, confident 
manner, procured him a reputation much higher 
than was due to his actual learning and talents ; 
and the influence which he exercised upon the 
republic of letters, by means of his intimate con- 
nexion with the periodical works of his day,- was 
almost incalculable. That influence he unhappily 
exerted in one long and consistent attempt to 
undermine the foundations of orthodoxy, and to 
diffuse universal uncertainty and doubt. His writ- 
ings on Church-history 3 breathe the same spirit 

1 Life of Bentley, vol. i. p. 267, et seq. Edit. 1833. 

2 Lud. Ant. Muratorii de Ingeniorum Moderatione in Religi- 
onis negotio libri tres ? ubi, quae jura, quae fraena sint homini 
Christiano in inquirenda, et tradenda veritate ostenditur, et S. 
Augustini Doctrina a multiplici censura Joannis Phereponi 
vindicatur. First published under the assumed name of Lamin- 
dus Pritanius in 1714, in reply to the Appendix of the Amster* 
dam reprint of the Benedictine edition of St. Augustine, which 
was written by Le Clerc under the name of Joannes Phereponus. 
See Walch. Bibl. Patrist. p. 121. 

3 The principal of them were the lives of Clement of Alex- 

N 



178 ESTIMATE OF THIS PERIOD. [Chap. 

as his theological works. Though they had little 
real merit, they had a plausibility which caused 
them to be regarded as impartial and philosophical. 
They greatly contributed to make the students of 
Ecclesiastical history familiar with sceptical views ; 
and it is not too much to say that they tended to 
degrade it from its high and holy office, and pervert 
it into an instrument of sophistry and error. 

In concluding the section, I may remark, that 
sound criticism, and correct and enlightened views 
had, during this period, made a rapid progress. 
Many prejudices had been abandoned, many new 
truths had been brought to light, and the whole 
subject had been divested in a great measure of 
scholastic peculiarities, and made a branch of polite 
learning. Much indeed remained to be done : many 
facts required fresh examination, much was yet to 
undergo the ordeal of controversy, and there was 
still great deficiency of real liberality and impartial- 
ity. But, upon the whole, a very decided improve- 
ment had been effected in the treatment of this 
department of history. At the same time, however, 
we have to regret that in some quarters a bad 
spirit had already become apparent. If old pre- 
judices had been given up, new ones, not less 

andria and Eusebius, and other articles of a similar nature, in 
the Bibliotheque Universelle et Historique, between 1686 and 
1693 ; and Historia Ecclesiastica duorum primorum a Christo 
nato seculorum, e veteribus monumentis depromta. Amste- 
lodami, 1716, 4to. 



III.] NEW CONDITION OF LITERATURE. 179 

contrary to the truth, had been adopted in their 
stead ; free inquiry had been already perverted into 
licentious speculation ; and we are by no means 
unprepared for the unhappy spectacle which will de- 
mand so much of our attention in the next section. 



SECTION III. 



FROM A.I), 1715 TO THE PRESENT TIME. 

NEW CONDITION OF LITERATURE DECLINE OF THE GALLICAN 

SCHOOL OF CHURCH-HISTORY EFFORTS OF THE ITALIAN 

SCHOLARS FRENCH PROTESTANTS PROGRESS OF CHURCH- 
HISTORY IN GERMANY WEISMANN MOSHEIM STATE OF 

ECCLESIASTICAL LEARNING IN ENGLAND NEW GERMAN SCHOOL 

SEMLER SCHROCKH THE RATIONALISTS — HENKE- -J. E. 

C. SCHMIDT GERMAN ROMAN CATHOLIC WRITERS PRESENT 

STATE OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY IN GERMANY IN ENGLAND 

HOPES AND PROSPECTS. 

The progress of Church-history was greatly affected 
by the important changes, the result of causes now 
in active operation, which about this time took 
place in the condition of European literature. From 
the triumph of Christianity over Paganism till the 
latter part of the seventeenth century, the literature 
of the West had been universally pervaded by the 
influence of religion. Though the ardent study of 
the philosophical and sesthetical works of antiquity 
since the general revival of classical learning, had 
tended to give currency to principles and feelings 

n 2 



180 NEW CONDITION OF LITERATURE. [Chap. 

altogether alien to the spirit of the Gospel, still the 
writers who had least claim to be regarded as 
religious men, treated it with respect, and professed 
to acknowledge its obligation. But as literature 
was more cultivated, it became more secular. It 
gradually threw off the restraints of religion, too 
often those of morality and decency ; and from the 
beginning of the eighteenth century, the writers 
who attained the greatest celebrity distinguished 
themselves by an avowed hostility to Christianity. 
This, however, was not all. The very objects and 
materials of literature were changed. The modern 
languages were now enriched by translations and 
imitations of the ancients, as well as original works. 
It had become possible to acquire information, and 
gratify a literary taste, without the painful study 
which had been exercised by the men of letters of 
earlier times. A new race arose who employed in 
mischievous speculations, or idle dissipation, the 
energy which had been hitherto more profitably 
devoted to the acquirement of a critical acquaint- 
ance with the classical tongues, and the patient 
accumulation of materials. With minds unused to 
labour, unexercised by the salutary discipline of 
logic and philology, and often enfeebled by habitual 
intercourse with circles in which every thing like 
learning and lofty feeling was treated as pedantic 
and visionary, they attempted to substitute super- 
ficial information and flimsy sophistry for solid 



III.] FRENCH BENEDICTINES. 181 

learning and substantial truth. They laboured with 
too much success in their miserable vocation. A 
sensual and corrupt age was ready to sympathize 
with them in their attacks on whatever was ex- 
alted and dignified, to admire their ignorant con- 
tempt of superior excellence, and to admit the 
principles of universal scepticism. The influence 
of this state of things, wherever it prevailed, was 
soon fatal to Church-history. The real scholars 
and sound reasoners who yet remained, had enough 
to do in combating the new philosophy, — if they 
had courage enough to encounter a party who des- 
pised the decencies of literary warfare. The greatest 
part of Europe entirely abandoned Ecclesiastical 
studies. Germany, which for a while escaped the 
contagion, and the religious orders of the church 
of Rome, were left alone to cultivate the history 
of the Church. 

The high reputation for Ecclesiastical learning 
which had been obtained by the Gallican scholars 
in the latter part of the seventeenth century, was 
scarcely maintained by their successors. The Bene- 
dictines of St. Maur were, indeed, for some time 
longer actively engaged in the pursuits which had 
so honourably distinguished their congregation. 
Their editions of the Fathers 1 still excited the 
admiration of those who felt an interest in their 
labours ; and several learned works on subjects 

1 Appendix, Note YY. 



182 FRENCH BENEDICTINES. [Chap. 

connected with Ecclesiastical history, especially 
the " Histoire Litteraire de la France V' and the 
" Art de verifier les Dates 2 ," showed that the spirit 
raised among them by the precepts and example of 
Mabillon and Montfaucon, was not yet extin- 

1 Histoire Litteraire de la France, ou Ton traite de l'Origine 
et du Progres, de la Decadence et du Retablissement des 
Sciences parmi les Gaulois et parmi les Francois ; du Gout et 
du Genie des uns et des autres pour les Lettres en chaque 
siecle ; de leurs anciennes Ecoles ; de l'etablissement des Uni- 
versites en France ; des principaux Colleges ; des Academies 
des Sciences et des Belles-Lettres ; des meilleures Biblio- 
theques anciennes et modernes, des plus celebres Imprimeries ; 
et de tout ce qui a un rapport particulier a. la Littera ture. Avec 
les Eloges historiques des Gaulois et des Francois qui s'y sont 
fait quelque reputation ; le Cataloque et la Chronologie de 
leurs ecrits ; des remarques historiques et critiques sur les 
principaux Ouvrages ; le Denombrement des differentes edi- 
tions : le tout justifie par les citations des Originaux. Par des 
Religieux Benedictins de la Congregation de Saint Maur. A 
Paris, 1733 — 1763. In twelve quartos, written as far as the 
ninth volume by Antoine Rivet, and continued by Taillandier 
and Clemencet. See Tassin, Hist. Lit. de la Congregation de 
S. Maur, p. 667. 

2 L'Art de verifier les Dates des Faits Historiques, des 
Chartres, des Chroniques, et autres anciens Monumens depuis la 
Naissance de Notre-Seigneur, par le moyen d'une Table Chrono- 
logique, &c. &c. Par des Religieux Benedictins de la Con- 
gregation de Saint Maur. A Paris, 1750, 4to. It was com- 
menced by Dantine, and completed and edited by Clemencet. 
See Tassin, ut supra, p. 637. A new edition in folio, greatly 
enlarged by Clement, was published in 1770. An edition has 
appeared in the present century (a Paris, 1818, 19) in eight- 
een volumes 8vo. Edited bv M. Viton de Saint-Allais. 



III.] ITALIAN SCHOLARS. 183 

guished. But the works which were written sub- 
sequently to the commencement of the period upon 
which we now enter, directly on the history of the 
Church, were for the most part of a character 
decidedly inferior to those which were due to the 
great men of the Gallican school. The " Histoire 
de l'Eglise 5 ' of Choisy ! was altogether of a popular 
nature ; and the " Histoire des Auteurs Sacres" of 
the laborious Ceillier 2 , though admirable in its 
design, evinces more industry than accuracy or 
judgment. The books written on the subject by 
later French Roman Catholics are little known, and 
have exercised no perceptible influence on the 
progress of Ecclesiastical studies. 

The works of Muratori and other learned natives 
of Italy, in the early part of the eighteenth century, 
led to the more active cultivation of Ecclesiastical 

1 Histoire de l'Eglise, par l'Abbe Choisy. A Paris, 1703 — 
23. In eleven vols. 4to. It brought down the history to the 
year 1715. 

2 Histoire des Auteurs Sacres et Ecclesiastiques, qui contient 
leur Vie, le Catalogue, la Critique, le Jugement, la Chronologie, 
l'Analyse, et le Denombrement des differentes editions de leurs 
ouvrages ; ce qu'ils renferment de plus interessant sur le 
dogme, sur la morale, et sur la discipline de l'Eglise ; l'histoire 
des Conciles tant generaux que particuliers, et les actes choisis 
des martyrs. Par le R. P. Dom Hemi Ceillier, Benedictin de 
la Congregation de Saint Vannes et de Saint Hydulphe, Prieur 
Titulaire de Flavigny. A Paris, 1729 — 63. In twenty- three 
volumes 4to. The last of these comes down only to the twelfth 
century. A volume of indices was published in 1782. 



184 ITALIAN SCHOLARS. [Chap. 

History in that part of Europe. The Oratorian 
Laderchius l continued the annals of Baronius and 
Raynaldus ; the Dominican Orsi 2 began in his 
native language a most copious history of the 
Church, which was continued by Becchetti 3 ; and 
at a somewhat later period another learned Orator- 
ian, Sacharelli 4 , wrote in Latin an equally exten- 
sive work. But the labours of these industrious 
scholars had little influence on the progress of 
Church-history ; they scarcely carried their subject 
beyond the point which it had attained in France 
at the close of the preceding century, and, with the 

1 Annates Ecclesiastici ab anno 1566, ubi Odericus Ray- 
naldus desinit ; Auctore Jacobo de Laderchio Faventino Con- 
gregations Oratorii Presbytero. Tom. xxii. Romae, 1728, 
folio, torn, xxiii. 1733, and torn. xxiv. 1737. In these three 
folio volumes, this most prolix of authors includes the history of 
only six years. 

2 La Istoria Ecclesiastica descritta da F. Giuseppe Agostino 
Orsi dell' Ordine de' Predicatori Segretario della Sac. Congreg. 
dell' Indice. In Roma, 1746, twenty-one volumes 4to. In 
the title of the twenty-first volume he is described as Cardinale 
di S. Sisto, Accademico della Crusca. It appeared in 1762, 
and comes down to the year 656. See Appendix, Note ZZ. 

3 La Istoria Ecclesiastica dell' Eminentissimo Cardinale 
Giuseppe Agostino Orsi dell' Ordine de' Predicatori proseguita 
da Filippo Angelico Becchetti. In Roma, 1770 — 78, 10 vols. 
4to. I have seen no more than these, which come down to 
1138. But Staudlin says there were 26 published. 

4 Historia Ecclesiastica per annos digesta variisque observa- 
tionibus illustrata. Romae, 1771 — 96. It comes down to the 
year 1185, in twenty-five volumes 4to. 



III.] FRENCH PROTESTANTS. 185 

exception of Laderchius, they have been little 
known beyond the limits of their native peninsula. 
The writers on Church-history whose works 
obtained most attention at the commencement of 
this period, and produced the most striking and 
manent effects, were French Protestants. I have 
already had occasion to complain of the tone and 
spirit of this school. In the authors to whom I now 
refer the offensive peculiarities are more decided 
and prominent. It would sometimes seem as if 
they had actually adopted the principles of their 
deistical contemporaries, for they not unfrequently 
allude to the most sacrecl subjects with actual 
sarcasm, or that affected respect which ill conceals 
contempt. The writings in which Jean Barbeyrac .* 
attacked the " Morality of the Fathers," deficient 
as he was in the higher qualifications requisite for 
such investigations as he attempted, display some 
acuteness and learning, and gave a strong impulse 

1 Preface to his French translation of Puffendorf 's work " De 
Jure Naturae et Gentium," Amsterdam, 1712. Traite de la 
Morale des Peres de l'Eglise : ou, en defendant un Article de 
la Preface sur Puffendorf, contre l'Apologie de la Morale des 
Peres du P. Ceillier, Religieux Benedictin de la Congregation 
de St. Vanne et de St. Hydulphe, on fait diverses reflexions sur 
plusieurs matieres importantes. Par Jean Barbeyrac, Professeur 
en Droit a Groningue, et Membre de la Societe Roiale des 
Sciences a Berlin. A Amsterdam, 1728, 4to. There are some 
able remarks on the Preface to Puffendorf in Waterland " on 
the Importance of the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity." Works, 
vol. v. pp. 294—311. 



186 FRENCH PROTESTANTS. [Chap. 

to the disposition, already sufficiently apparent, to 
disparage the authority of the ancient Christian 
doctors. The works of the learned ex-Benedictine 
Maturin Veyssier la Croze j gave currency to 
the sneers with which a generation of shallow and 
ignorant writers, who mistook the real nature and 
genius of history, had already begun to assail the 
controversies respecting the doctrine of the Incarna- 
tion. And the well known history of Manichaeism 
of Isaac Beausobre 2 , though a model of patient 
and minute research, breathes a spirit of scepticism 
more calculated to mislead and embarrass the honest 
inquirer than to serve the cause of truth. But 
before the middle of the century this school had 
become extinct 3 ; and it is not too much to say 

1 Histoire du Christianisme des Indes ; par M, V. la Croze, 
Bibliothecaire et Antiquaire du Roi de Prusse. A la Haye, 
1724, 12mo. Histoire du Christianisme d'Ethiopie et d'Armenie. 
A la Haye, 1739, 12mo. 

2 Histoire Critique de Manichee et du Manicheisme. Par 
M. de Beausobre. A Amsterdam, 1734 — 39. Two vols. 4to. 
It is in a great measure an apology for the Manicheans. Like 
the other writers of this class, Beausobre could feel nothing but 
good-will for those whose only crime was blasphemy. See 
Appendix, Note AAA. 

3 The later Ecclesiastical historians of the Reformed commu- 
nion were not Frenchmen. J. A. Turretin, Jablonsky, and 
Venema, were more connected with the German schools. 
Though all of them learned men, their works may be regarded 
rather as showing that Church-history was not neglected by the 
Reformed, than as having contributed to its progress. The more 
recent German writers of this communion have been so connected 



III.] PROGRESS OF CHURCH-HISTORY. 187 

that it never produced a single writer, who appears 
to have been impressed with a clue sense of the 
dignity and sacredness of Ecclesiastical history. 

But in the meantime the learned men of Ger- 
many, the worthy successors of Kortholt and Ittigius, 
were laying the deep foundations on which has 
since been erected the imposing fabric of the modern 
school. Johann Albrecht Fabricius \ Ernst Salomo 
Cyprian, Johann Franz Buddeus, Johann Christ oph 
Wolf, and a number of other scholars, were actively 
engaged in Ecclesiastical studies. They were nearly 
all firmly attached to the orthodox views of doctrine, 
and pursued their researches in the true spirit of 
learning. Though no one of them wrote a general 
history of the Church, their labours had no common 
influence on the progress of Church-history. The 
works of Fabricius especially, distinguished as they 
are by unbounded learning, unaffected impartiality, 
and simple piety, have had a very great share in 
everything which can fairly be called an improve- 
ment in these pursuits, and have tended in no 
small degree to facilitate reference to the ultimate 
sources of information. Happy would it have been 
for the cause of truth if their successors had been 
content to imitate such models, and to carry on 

with the Lutherans (even before the union in Prussia), that it 
is scarcely worth while to attempt to mark the distinction. 

1 His " Bibliotheca Graeca," and " Bibliotheca Latina Mediae 
et Infimae iEtatis," are absolutely indispensable to the student 
of Ecclesiastical history. 



188 PROGRESS OF CHURCH-HISTORY [Chap. 

their inquiries in a sober spirit of investigation. 
But to rival the learning of these eminent men was 
no easy matter. Distinction was more cheaply pur- 
chased by the invention of paradox and the vindi- 
cation of error. A few dangerous examples in this 
department of knowledge excited the awakening 
intellect of Germany, and at length hurried it for a 
time in willing captivity through the wildest delu- 
sions. 

The scholars of whom I now speak were contem- 
poraries of Gottfried Arnold ; some of them were 
actually his opponents ; and all of them distin- 
guished themselves by writings which presented a 
remarkable contrast to the crude and presumptuous 
speculations of that enthusiastic writer. Yet his 
work had already begun to exercise an influence upon 
the cultivation of Church-history. The scholastic 
method in which it had hitherto been written, 
especially in Germany, was henceforth abandoned. 
The various parts of the subject were successively 
submitted to more careful examination ; and many 
points, heretofore almost unchallenged were given 
up as untenable. All the German writers ascribe 
to the work of Arnold 1 the effects which now became 
from time to time more visible. " His bitter and 

1 As the work of Arnold is almost unknown in this country, 
I am glad to have the opportunity of fortifying my own views 
by the opinions of the German writers. There was, however, an 
attempt made towards an English translation. There is in the 
British Museum a pamphlet with the following title : " Certain 



III.] IN GERMANY. 189 

spiteful criticism," says Schrockh \ " have gradually 
led us much nearer to that impartiality, which he 
himself could not attain, and which very few of our 
old historians could boast of. While he brought 
to light much to the dishonour of the clergy, we 
learned to accustom ourselves, by no means to give 
it entire credit, but to institute freer inquiries re- 
specting the men, whose memory in Church-history 
had hitherto been upheld as famous and almost 
sacred, and whose merits we had not, up to that 
time, ventured to regard otherwise than all preced- 
ing centuries. Between his bold impetuosity and 
the usual timidity in criticism, there soon appeared 
a middle way in which we could walk more safely. 
We certainly found no reason with him to hold 

Queries, with their respective Answers ; by way of Introduction 
to the Reverend Mr. Godfrey Arnold's Impartial History of the 
Church and Heretics, from the commencement of the New 
Testament, to the Year of our Lord, 1688. Faithfully trans- 
lated, in a concise manner, from the High-Dutch. London, 
1744." In the " Advertisement, to all unprejudiced Readers of 
what Persuasions soever," the Translator says, that " he pro- 
poses, if he meets with any reasonable encouragement* to print 
this Ecclesiastical History, with the same letter, and on the same 
paper, as these Queries, which are here offered as a specimen of 
the work, in six volumes octavo. Such as are inclined to 
become Subscribers, are desired to send in their names and 
places of abode as soon as possible, since a great part of the 
copy is actually prepared for the press." The plan probably 
did not meet with " reasonable encouragement," for it was not 
executed. 

1 Kirchengeschichte, Th. i. S. 184. 



190 GERMAN WRITERS. [Chap. 

guiltless all teachers of error and inventors of ex- 
traordinary notions of belief; but yet we began to 
write their history with more equity and mildness ; 
we listened from that time more dispassionately to 
what can be alleged for their exculpation, acquitted 
many of them of malicious perversions of religion, 
and confessed that they have been too often treated 
with harshness and injustice ; that their confused 
notions, their inflamed imagination, and sometimes 
their unintelligible expressions, might require some 
indulgence, and more favourable interpretations." 
" In fact," says Staudlin l , " he effected a revolution 
in this science ; he caused much, which before his 
time seemed to have been brought to perfection, to 
be submitted to a new examination, and even brought 
many new truths into Church-history. Though he 
was himself partial, he greatly contributed by his 
work gradually to introduce more impartiality and 
less exclusiveness into the history of the Church." 
Though these learned writers describe as improve- 
ments many things which we regard as sacrifices of 
the truth, and dignify with the name of impartiality 
what we look upon as mere indifferentism, the fact 
which they notice can scarcely be questioned. The 
effect of Arnold's work was in the first instance to 
stimulate inquiry, and introduce greater candour. 
I should not have complained of it as I have done 
in the preceding section, if its wild doubts and 



1 Geschichte und Literatur der Kirchengeschichte, S. 157. 



TIL] WEISMANN. 191 

groundless charges had not still more plainly 
tended to produce, as they ultimately did produce, 
the worst excesses of the Rationalist school of 
Church-history. 

The first complete work on the general history 
of the Church, which appeared in Germany after 
the commencement of the eighteenth century, pro- 
ceeded from the school of the Pietists. Christian 
Eberhard Weismann treated Ecclesiastical history 
with a direct view to personal edification. He was 
a well informed and pious writer. And though 
his book 1 does not display any great talent or 
learning, it was written in a tone and spirit well 
suited to the subject. But it had the defects as 
well as the merits of the party to which the author 
belonged. He was always ready to exalt practical 
piety at the expense of verbal orthodoxy ; and his 
reflections were sometimes but too calculated to 
prepare his readers for receiving with less suspicion 
the liberal views of more enlightened inquirers 2 . 

But we have now arrived at an important period 
in the progress of Church-history. Before we notice 

1 Introductio in Memorabilia Ecclesiastica Historiae Sacrae 
Novi Testamenti ; maxime vero seculorum primorum et novis- 
simorum, ad juvandam notitiam regni Dei et Satanas cordisque 
humani salutarem concinnata. Tubingae, 1718 — 19. Two 
volumes 4to. Reprinted in 1745. 

2 The learned and ingenious treatise of Christian August 
Salig, " De Eutychianismo ante Eutychen, Wolffenbutelag, 
1723," was nearly the first indication of the existence of a 
liberal school in Germany. 



192 MOSHEIM. [Chap. 

the extravagancies of the later writers, we can pause 
with pleasure on an illustrious name, and pay a 
grateful tribute of admiration to one of the most 
distinguished of the Ecclesiastical historians. Ex- 
tensive learning, uncommon sagacity, and ready 
eloquence, have very rarely been so happily com- 
bined as they were in Johann Lorenz Mosheim. 
His philosophical mind gave to Church-history the 
form and method of a science ; and his works on 
the subject exhibit a range of erudition, an accu- 
racy of statement, and comprehensive views, which 
command the most profound respect ; while they 
breathe withal a spirit of candour and moderation, 
which scarcely allows us to withhold from him our 
esteem and confidence. In a long and eager course 
of study, he had made himself acquainted with 
every kind of information which bore on the know- 
ledge of Ecclesiastical history. He was qualified 
alike by his learning and his penetration to perceive 
the deficiencies of his predecessors. All that eru- 
dition, and talent, and knowledge of mankind 
could do, he was himself able to supply ; and if his 
imaginative and moral powers had been as lofty 
and delicate as his intellectual, he would have 
wanted nothing that is required in the consummate 
writer of Church-history. But the historian should 
have some sympathy with the aspirations of genius; 
and there are matters of still greater importance in 
Ecclesiastical story which are cognizable only by 
the spiritual taste ; whereas Mosheim was altogether 



III. MOSHEIM. 193 

a practical man. Though he was undoubtedly 
orthodox in his principles, and though we trace 
throughout his works a straightforward honesty and 
love of truth, he was not free from liberal pre- 
judices. To say nothing of his attachment to the 
views of Ecclesiastical polity which he derived from 
his education, he speaks with unbecoming levity of 
the early Christian writers, he did not duly appre- 
ciate the importance of the controversies respecting 
the Trinity and the Incarnation, he had no clear 
conception of the position of the Church during 
the Middle Ages. But the great fault of his writ- 
ings ! is the absence of religious feeling. It is true 
that his works on Ecclesiastical history are mostly 
of an academical nature, and that the one" 2 by 
which he is best known was intended merely as a 
text-book 3 . They might have been, they ought to 
have been, composed in a more religious spirit. 
Our relations with Heaven cannot, under any cir- 
cumstances, be treated as a bare point of human 
science. The writer of Church-history, who is not 

1 Mosheim's works on Church-history are very numerous. 
I have enumerated several of them in the Index of Eccles. 
Historians. The Indiculus appended to the second edition of 
his Institutions Hist. Eccles., enumerates eighty-five articles, 
a large proportion of which relate to ecclesiastical subjects. 

Institutionum Historiae Ecclesiasticae antiquae et recentioris 
libri quatuor ex ipsis fontibus insigniter emendati, plurimis 
accessionibus locupletati, variis observationibus illustrati. 
Helmstadii, 1755. 

3 Appendix, Note BBB. 





194 MOSHEIM. [Chap. 

uniformly pious, must sometimes be profane. And 
many a Christian student has observed with regret, 
the coldness which prevails through the works of 
Mosheim. But the services which he rendered to 
Church-history, have secured him a lasting repu- 
tation. He taught the historians of the Church to 
trace events to their causes, and to examine the 
various relations of the circumstances which it was 
their business to record. He set the example of 
regarding this subject as a great whole, and of 
treating the different parts with discrimination and 
candour. His " Institutes of Ecclesiastical History," 
in spite of its formal and artificial arrangement, is 
still in many respects the first work of its class. 
And if our theological students must needs obtain 
an acquaintance with Ecclesiastical history from 
compendiums and foreigners, they cannot even yet 
be referred to a safer and better guide 1 . 

This casual allusion to our own circumstances 
affords a suitable opportunity to notice the con- 
dition of Ecclesiastical learning in England after 
the first years of the eighteenth century. It is an 

1 The faults and deficiencies of Maclaine's translation, by 
which since 1765 Mosheim has been known to English readers, 
have been often noticed. It seems to have been the miserable 
ambition of that translator to make the venerable chancellor of 
Gottingen speak the flippant language of an " esprit fort." It 
is but just to the memory of a great man to observe, that there 
is very often no equivalent whatever in the original for the silly 
stuff of the English version. 



Ill] ENGLISH WRITERS. 195 

unpleasing topic, and I readily seize the first occa- 
sion of discharging a painful duty which I may not 
avoid. I have already had to regret the decline of 
the Anglican school of Church-history. I must 
now deplore its extinction. Waterland \ who 
died in 1740, was the last of our great patristical 
scholars. The pieces written by other authors, 
which appeared in the controversies in which he 
was engaged, had little permanent value. The 
long controversy with the Deists, which in one form 
or other engrossed the attention of the most emi- 
nent of our divines nearly to the end of the century, 
produced nothing of an ecclesiastical nature but the 
" Julian 2 " of Bishop Warburton, and the inge- 
nious writings of the dissenter Lardner 3 . The 
works which were composed expressly in illustration 

1 Waterland may himself be ranked among the Ecclesiastical 
historians, as the author of the " Critical History of the Atha- 
nanasian Creed," (Works, vol. iv.) first published in 1723. See 
Bishop Van Mildert's Life of Waterland (prefixed to the Oxford 
edition of his Works), p. 106. 

2 Julian : or a Discourse concerning the Earthquake and 
Fiery Eruption which defeated that Emperor's attempt to re- 
build the Temple at Jerusalem, &c. By the Rev. Mr. War- 
burton, Preacher to the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn. 
London, 1750, 8vo. 

3 The Credibility of the Gospel History, Part II. London, 
1733 — 55, 12 vols. 4to. A Large Collection of Ancient Jew- 
ish and Heathen Testimonies to the Truth of the Christian 
Religion. London, 1764 — 67, 4 vols. 4to. The History of 
the Heretics of the two first Centuries after Christ. London, 
1780. A posthumous work in one volume 4 to. 

o2 



196 ENGLISH WRITERS. [Chap. 

of Church-history, were little calculated to serve the 
cause of truth. The "Remarks l " of Jortin 2 are a 
vulgar caricature, distinguished not more for their 
heartlessness and the absence of every noble feel- 
ing, than for the author's shameful ignorance of the 
subject which he presumed to handle. Gibbon 3 
studied the history of the Church only to employ 
his learning in assailing a religion whose morality 
he abhorred. And Milner 4 , estimable as he was 
for his piety, produced a work which merely proved 
how strangely he was destitute of the information 
most indispensable in the Ecclesiastical historian. 
Church-history was little likely to advance under 
such guidance. For a long season other pursuits 
entirely engrossed the genius and industry of our 
countrymen ; and our own times have first wit- 
nessed the attempt to recall the attention of English 

1 Remarks on Ecclesiastical History. London, 1751 — 73, 
5 vols. 8vo. 

2 For an able and eloquent exposure of Jortin, I refer to 
Mr. Rose's " Lecture on the Study of Church-history," pp. 
56—60. 

3 The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. 
London, 1776 — 88, 6 vols. 4to. 

4 The History of the Church of Christ. By Joseph Milner, 
M.A. Master of the Grammar School in Kingston-upon-Hull. 
1794 — 1803. In four volumes 8vo. Dean Milner published 
a volume of a continuation in 1809. The controversy occa- 
sioned by. Mr. Rose's Lecture at Durham in 1834, is too 
recent for me to wish to add anything to what I have said in the 
text. 



III.] NEW GERMAN SCHOOL. 197 

readers to the deep importance of Ecclesiastical 
studies. 

But we return to Germany, where about the same 
time as Mosheim, Christoph Matthaus Pfaff ', 
Siegmund Jacob Baumgarten 2 , and Johann 
Georg Walch 3 , distinguished themselves by the 
zealous cultivation of Church-history ; and a few 
years later, Christian Wilhelm Franz Walch 4 , 
the German Tillemont, the son of the last-named 
writer, commenced his active and successful career 
of Ecclesiastical investigation. These able men, 
while they exercised a bold and searching criticism, 
all remained true to the principles, of the orthodox 
theology, and sought reputation by the straight 
road of accurate and solid learning. 

But we have now reached the limit of the ortho- 
dox period 5 , and must be content for a while to 
learn the melancholy, though instructive, lesson 

1 Institutiones Historise Ecclesiastics. Tubingse, 1721^ 

2 Breviariura Historiae Christianaa. Halae, 1754. 

3 Historia Ecclesiastica Novi Testamenti. Jenae, 1744. 

4 Entwurf einer vollstandiger Historie der Kezereien, Spal- 
tungen und Religionstreitigkeiten, bis auf die Zeiten der 
Reformation. Leipzig, 1762 — 85. The eleven volumes (8vo) 
which were published, came down only to the ninth century, 
and the last was posthumous. This is C. W. F. Walch's 
principal work, but several of his other works are important. 

5 According to Augusti, " Die dogmatischen Untersuchungen 
der sogenannten neuern Theologie begannen im Jahr, 1760." 
Lehrbuch der ehristlichen Dogmengeschichtes, S. 162. (Edit. 
1835.) 



198 SEMLER. [Chap. 

which is taught by the extravagances of the writers 
of a different school. It is not my business to point 
out the process by which the leading divines of the 
Lutheran communities passed into a state but little 
differing from actual infidelity. The subject has 
even among ourselves already undergone discussion. 
It is too extensive and too important to be noticed 
in a few passing allusions. And it will in every 
point of view be more satisfactory for me to abstain 
entirely from speculation, and to confine myself to 
acknowledged facts. Whatever views we may have 
been led to entertain with respect to the origin of 
the state of things to which I now refer, it cannot 
be denied that Johann Salomo Semler, the most 
conspicuous leader in the revolution effected in 
theology \ exercised an influence not less remark- 
able on the cultivation of Church-history. Some of 
the most striking peculiarities which have since 
distinguished all classes of the historical writers of 
Germany, may be traced to the example of this 
extraordinary man. For though he was in some 
sense the type of his generation, his marked indi- 
viduality greatly contributed to modify the course 
pursued in a great intellectual movement. His 
character is a phenomenon of no small interest in 
the history of the human mind. With a scepticism 
which doubted the plainest facts, he combined a 

1 Rev. Hugh James Rose on the State of the Protestant Reli- 
gion in Germany, p. 45 et seq. 



III.] SEMLER. 199 

credulity which could believe the most improbable 
conjectures ; and to an overwhelming passion for 
theory, he united a taste for investigation which 
enabled him to acquire the most extensive learning. 
His acuteness was checked by no sense of reverence 
for the subject on which it was exercised. His 
devotional feelings found satisfaction in an original 
kind of mysticism, and his speculations even on 
matters which better regulated minds deem sacred, 
were marked by bold profaneness as well as out- 
rageous extravagance. " He set out," says Dr. 
Staudlin \ " upon the supposition that we have 
received Ecclesiastical history from the hands of the 
potentates of the Church ; that they have regulated 
and disfigured it in accordance with their own views 
and prejudices, and that it must consequently be 
entirely reconstructed. But this often brought him 
to merely bold and groundless hypotheses. Generally 
speaking he destroyed more than he built up or set 
the example of improving. As the morals of the 
first Christians were represented as exceedingly 
pure, Semler described them as worthless people; 
and without any sufficient grounds declared the 
younger Pliny's letter to the emperor Trajan, which 
bears testimony to the purity of their morals, to be 
spurious. For what was beautiful and venerable in 
the character, and manner of life, and religious 

1 Geschichte und Literatur der Kirchengeschichte, S. 167, 168, 



200 SEMLER. [Chap. 

institutions of these Christians, he had no feeling. 
He well knew that religion, mental cultivation, and 
the system of instruction, cannot always and every- 
where be uniform ; but he knew not how duly to 
estimate their different forms, nor to interpret, and 
refer them to religious ideas and feelings." His 
style was confused and barbarous, and his works 
were composed without regard to art or method. 
His penetration and learning enabled him some- 
times happily to estimate the value of the sources ; 
but he was destitute of almost all the qualities 
which are required in the historian — especially the 
Ecclesiastical historian. But his doubts and his 
conjectures were alike calculated to gratify a people 
thirsting for novelty. The effect of his writings [ 
was wonderful. Nearly all his countrymen who 
wrote on Church-history after he had begun his 
career of authorship, were more or less affected 
by his speculations ; and he lived to see his prin- 
ciples carried to their furthest extent by some of 
the most able and popular writers of Germany. 
Contemporary, however, with Semler was Johann 

1 Historiae Ecclesiastics Selecta Capita. Halae, 1767-9. 
3 vols, 8vo. Commentarii Historic! de Antiquo Christianor, 
Statu. Hal. 1771-2. 2 vols. Versuch eines fruchtbaren Auszugs 
de Kirchengeschichte, 3 Bde. Halle, 1773-8. Versuch christ- 
lichen Jahrbiicher. Halle, 1783, 2 Bde. Neue Versuche, die 
Kirchenhistorie der ersten Jahrhunderte aufzuklaren. Leipzig, 
1783. 



Ill] SCHROCKH. 201 

Matthias Schrockh, who published in 1768 the 
first volume of the extensive undertaking l which 
he completed only by the uninterrupted labour of 
forty years ; — and who must not be classed among 
the Rationalists. A pupil of Mosheim, he brought 
to the cultivation of Ecclesiastical history much of 
the taste and learning of that distinguished his- 
torian. When he began his " Christian Church- 
history," he merely intended to compose a popular 
work for the use of the educated classes of society. 
He altogether omitted references, and made it the 
principal object of his attention to write in a pleasing 
and attractive style. But as he proceeded, his plan 
was greatly altered. His own acquaintance with 
his subject gradually became more extensive-; he 
soon ventured to discuss questions which could only 
interest men of learning ; and at length freely 
entered into the most difficult points of Ecclesias- 
tical investigation. His work exhibits the inequa- 
lities and defects which we might expect as the 

1 Christliche Kirchengeschichte von Johann Matthias Schrockh, 
ordentlichem Lehrer der Dichtkunst auf der Universitat Wit- 
tenburg. Leipzig, 1768 — 1803. The work was carried on with 
this title as far as the Reformation, in thirty-five volumes 8vo. 
And it was immediately followed up by the modern history of 
the Church in another, differing only in the title (Christliche 
Kirchengeschichte seit der Reformation, Leipzig, 1804 — 1808), 
in eight volumes more. The whole work was completed by the 
publication of two volumes of a continuation by Tzschirner in 
1810—12. 



202 SCHROCKH. [Chap. 

consequence of the circumstances under which it 
was written. But the writer was a moderate and 
candid man, who generally derived his information 
immediately from the sources, and was always ac- 
quainted with the most valuable labours of his pre- 
decessors. His views are generally sound and 
natural ; and though he has too hastily adopted 
many new opinions, and often expressed himself 
with too little circumspection on serious subjects, — 
though he was not alive to the danger of latitudi- 
narian sentiments, and had not altogether escaped 
the contagion of error, — he produced a valuable and 
useful work. He has generally placed the different 
parts of his subject in striking and intelligible 
points of view, and has distributed it judiciously 
and clearly. Though he was not the first of the 
more modern writers who discarded the division 
of Church-history into centuries, he was the first 
whose example in doing so was generally followed. 
It would be unfair to compare the different parts 
of his work 1 with those of writers who have con- 
centrated their attention upon particular subjects 
or periods ; but it has strong claims to be regarded 
as the best which has ever been written, on so large 
a scale, upon the general history of the Church. 

For half a century after the time of Semler, no 
new work appeared on Church-history which was 
not composed upon the principles of the Rationalists. 

1 Appendix, Note CCC. 



III.] THE RATIONALISTS. 203 

According to the theory of these ingenious specu- 
lators, Christianity was no longer to be regarded 
as a revelation from Heaven, except in so far as it 
might be traced to the interposition of Providence 
in disposing the circumstances connected with its 
origin and progress. The facts relating to its in- 
troduction were involved in impenetrable obscurity; 
for the records which professed to exhibit it 
primitive history, important as they were on other 
accounts, were of a character too uncertain and 
mythic to satisfy the curiosity of the philosophical 
inquirer. From its very introduction it had been 
grievously misapprehended. Superstition and im- 
posture had represented it as mysterious and super- 
natural. What was really divine in it, its -pure 
morality, had been buried under a system of dog- 
mas, borrowed from the Oriental and Greek 
philosophers. An enlightened age should possess 
the Gospel as it came from the mind of its Founder, 
before it was adulterated by his ignorant and crafty 
followers ; and it was the high vocation of the 
Ecclesiastical historian to co-operate with the philo- 
logist and the philosophical theologian, in attempt- 
ing to disengage the more precious materials from 
the worthless and noxious elements with which it 
had been so long combined. 

The popular work of Spittler l was constructed 

1 Grundriss der Geschichte der christlichen Kirchen. Got- 
tingen, 1782. 8vo. A fifth edition was published in 1811. 



204 HENKE. [Chap. 

on the theory of this school ; but the first Church- 
history avowedly written on such principles, which 
displayed research and learning, was that of Hein- 
rich Philipp Konrad Henke \ of Helmstadt. It 
appeared in six volumes between 1788 and 1802, 
and was a bold and systematic attempt to subdue a 
new province to the absolute jurisdiction of the 
Rationalists. " Wherever he found not his natural- 
ism," says Staudlin 2 , " he saw corruptions of Christ- 
ianity ; he employed invective and ridicule, instead 
of explaining and estimating ; changed the whole 
almost entirely into a series of highly-coloured 
pictures of superstition, fanaticism, stupidity, and 
wickedness, and misunderstood the beneficent moral 
and religious effects of Christianity. He affirmed 
that its true sense and spirit was first generally 
recognized in the eighteenth century." But though 
exceedingly defective in historical arrangement and 
method, and exhibiting in the later volumes an 
altered plan, the work of Henke has firmly main- 
tained its ground, and will probably long remain a 
favourite with the bolder neologists. 

Of much the same principles and tendency, 
though written in a more amiable spirit, was the 
Manual of Johann Ernst Christian Schmidt 3 , 

1 Allegemeine Geschichte der christlichen Kirchen, nach der 
Zeitfolge. Braunschweig, 1788 — 1802. In six volumes 8vo, 
with a continuation in three more (1818 — 23) by Vater. 

2 Geschichte und Literatur der Kirchengeschichte, S. 178. 

3 Both Henke and J. E. C. Schmidt are assigned by Dr. 



III.] J. E. C. SCHMIDT. 205 

of Giessen, which was published in six volumes 
between 1801 and 1820 \ This author was well 
acquainted with the sources, and wrote in a belief 
" that the diffusion of accurate views of Church- 
history had not hitherto kept pace with the diffusion 
of better exegetical and philosophical knowledge 2 ." 
But the Christian could scarcely hope that the 
history of the Church would be successfully illus- 
trated by one who considered it an undecided 
question, whether the Founder of our religion "died 
to give posterity an example of patience and con- 
stancy, to attest the firmness of his conviction, or 
entirely to correct the expectations of his disciples 
respecting the Messiah ;" and who thought that 
" we should be the less inquisitive about it, inasmuch 
as distinguished men have internal motives and 
grounds of action, of which books say nothing ; 
and, moreover, men regarded nothing as holy which 
was not hallowed by sacrifice 3 ." 

But the very extravagance of the men who held 

Bretschneider to the class of Rationalists properly so called, who 
" deny in Christianity any supernatural and miraculous agency 
of God, and make the scope of it to be the introduction, the 
establishment of, and the propagating in the world, the religion 
accessible to human reason." Apology for the Modern Theology 
of Protestant Germany, translated by Evanson, p. 62. 

1 Handbuch der christlichen Kirchengeschichte. Giessen, 
1801 — 20. It has not been completed, — extending only to the 
year 1216. 

2 Schrockh, Kirchengeschichte, Th. xxxv. S. 219, 

3 Ibid. 



206 IMPROVED SPIRIT OF [Chap. 

these miserable views naturally tended to produce 
a reaction. The Roman Catholics *, as they gradu- 
ally availed themselves of the real improvements, 
were able to do something for the vindication of 
ancient truths. Protestant writers who were them- 
selves unsound in their opinions on many important 
subjects, were dissatisfied with opinions so unrea- 
sonable and so heartless ; and the works written on 
Church-history by such men as Marheinecke 2 and 
Staudlin 3 , served to form a transition to better and 
sounder views. Professed Rationalists learned to 
write with greater caution and moderation ; and 

1 The Roman Catholics of Germany first applied themselves 
to this branch of knowledge towards the end of the eighteenth 
century. The names of Stoger, Royko, and Dannenmayer, are 
mentioned with respect by Schrockh (Kirchengeschichte, xxxv. 
221, 222), and Staudlin (Geschichte undLiteratur der Kirchen- 
geschichte, 224, 225). But their efforts appear scarcely to 
have extended beyond the attempt to introduce the more 
valuable discoveries of the Protestant writers to their co- 
religionists. Several works of higher pretensions have indeed 
appeared among them somewhat more recently. Dr. J. J. Ritter, 
a learned and moderate writer of this communion, enumerates 
(Handbuch der Kirchengeschichte, Bonn, 1836. Bd. i. S. 20, 
21) no fewer than nine works on Church-history, besides his 
own, written by German Roman Catholics within the present 
century. But few of them have secured a reputation in any 
degree equal to that obtained by the bolder and more brilliant 
efforts of the Lutherans. 

2 Universalkirchen-historie des Christenthums. Erlangen, 
1806. It extends only to the beginning of the seventh century. 

3 Universalgeschichte der christlichen Kirche. Hannover, 
1806. 



III.] THE GERMAN WRITERS. 207 

men of learning again arose who were not ashamed 
of the cross of Christ. 

I speak with reluctance of the labours of living 
writers, yet the nature of the task which I have 
undertaken forbids me to be silent. Among the 
works on Church-history which have appeared in 
our own time, the first place is undoubtedly due to 
that of Dr. Neander K The Christian is thankful 
to find a person so justly eminent as this dis- 
tinguished writer, acknowledging the Divine autho- 
rity of the Gospel. But he is not free from that 
spirit of speculation which has become so character- 
istic of his countrymen : and his notions respecting 
the original constitution of the Church, and some 
other points of not inferior interest, render some of 
the most elaborate parts of his history highly unsatis- 
factory to Anglican readers. The other recent works 
of German writers are on a much less extensive 
scale. But Dr. Danz 2 , and especially Dr. Gieseler 3 , 

1 Allgemeine Geschichte der christlichen Religion und Kirche. 
Von Dr. August Neander. Hamburg, 1825 — 36. The four 
volumes (in eight parts), which have hitherto appeared, bring 
down the history to the year 1073. The three parts which 
compose the first volume, have been ably translated into 
English by the Rev. Henry John Rose, 2 vols. 8vo. London : 
Rivingtons, 1831. 

2 Lehrbuch der christlichen Kirchengeschichte. Jena, 1818- 
26. In twovolumes 8vo. 

3 Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte. Bonn, 1831 — 35. In 
two volumes, the last extending to four parts. The first volume 
of my copy is of the third edition. It first appeared in 1824. 



208 REVIVAL OF [Chap. 

have enriched their text-books with copious extracts 
from the sources. And the excellent Dr. Guerike l 
has written a very able manual, in which it is a real 
pleasure to meet with sound and scriptural views of 
doctrine, as well as extensive and solid learning. 
The number of works on this subject which have 
appeared in Germany within the last few years, 
sufficiently prove the interest with which it is 
regarded. Monographies (if I may be allowed to 
naturalize an useful word,) or treatises on parti- 
cular branches, have been still more abundant than 
works on the general history of the Church. Though 
much of what has been done, has been done in a 
spirit little calculated to promote the cause of 
truth, we cannot but rejoice at the degree of atten- 
tion which has been paid to these studies : for, let 
the German scholars once honestly engage in the 
cultivation of Church-history, and they will inevi- 
tably return to orthodox views of Christianity. 
We may fairly employ, with respect to ourselves, 

The plan of the work is admirable, and it is exceedingly well 
executed. Though the author is a Rationalist, he seems more 
desirous to suppress than to obtrude offensive peculiarities. It 
has been translated in America, where Rationalism is treated 
with more gentleness than it is in this country. But the trans- 
lator, Mr. Cunninghame, cannot be congratulated on having 
made a successful version. 

1 Handbuch der Kirchengeschichte von D. H. C. Ferd. 
Guerike. Halle, 1836. This is the second edition. The first 
appeared, I believe, in 1833. It is in the very best style of 
German learning. 



III.] ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 209 

the language of congratulation. Though We are 
still destitute of any original work which deserves 
the name of a general history of the Church, we 
have, within the last few years been presented with 
several valuable contributions. Bishop Kaye *, the 
late Professor Burton 2 , Mr. Maitland 3 , and Mr. 
Newman 4 , have already taken their place among 
the historians of the Church ; and we trace from 
day to day more decided indications of an increasing 
taste for Ecclesiastical information. 

In taking leave of this part of my subject, I may 
be allowed to make a few general observations. It 
must, I think, be confessed that Church-history is 
still very far from a state of perfection. Though it 
has been so often handled, very few have, hitherto, 

1 The Ecclesiastical History of the second and third Centuries, 
illustrated from the Writings of Tertullian. Cambridge, 1825. 
Some account of the Writings and Opinions of Justin Martyr. 
Cambridge, 1829. Some account of the Writings and Opinions 
of Clement of Alexandria. London, 1835. 

2 Lectures upon the Ecclesiastical History of the first three 
Centuries, from the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ to the year 313. 
Oxford, 1833, 2 vols. 8vo. 

3 Facts and Documents illustrative of the History, Doctrine, 
and Rites of the ancient Albigenses and Waldenses. London, 
1832. The papers on the Dark Ages, which have appeared 
during the last three years in the British Magazine. 

4 The Arians of the Fourth Century, their Doctrine, Temper, 
and Conduct, chiefly as exhibited in the Councils of the Church, 
between a.d. 325, and a.d. 381. London, 1833. 

P 



210 HOPES AND [Chap. 

treated it as it deserves. Of the better class of 
writers, some have confined themselves to bare 
facts, and have, undoubtedly, done much in the 
way of accumulating information and discovering 
separate truths ; others have investigated the causes 
of the phenomena which they had to notice, and 
have traced the connection of the various events 
with one another. But in this highest class of his- 
torians we find scarcely a single writer whom we 
can peruse with satisfaction. Many of them have 
written in support of erroneous views ; few of them 
have written in a religious spirit. They have 
generally treated the subject as a bare point of 
human knowledge. They have had no regard to 
the history of piety. They have not considered, 
nor pointed out, the relation in which revealed truth 
has stood to the various conditions of society. They 
have not concerned themselves to trace the per- 
petuity and uniformity of the grand peculiarities 
of the Gospel. At most they have been content to 
point out the care of Providence in maintaining the 
existence of the Church, without calling attention 
to the exertion of superhuman agency in preserving 
the different parts of the Christian system. The 
Romish writers could not, upon their principles, do 
otherwise than seek every where for Romanism, 
and shape every fact which they could discover, in a 
particular form. The writers of other communions 
have not, for the most part, been less exclusive. 
They have usually written with controversial views. 



III.] PROSPECTS. 211 

The piety which Rome admires, they deemed it 
right to ridicule; the practices which have since 
become mere superstitions, they have thought it 
necessary to denounce and expose. In a word, 
though the most important chapter of man's history 
is spread before us in the fortunes of the Church, it 
has scarcely ever yet been read as a great whole, 
The various parties have taken out their favourite 
portions, and ungratefully thrown the rest away. 
Would that the errors of past generations might 
teach us wisdom. If a sense of duty could lead us 
to lay aside our prejudices, and study Church-history 
in a teachable and quiet spirit, we should have a 
rich reward. 

Sunt fruges ; sunt deducentia ramos 
Pondere poma suo, tumidaeque in vitibus uvae ; 
Sunt herbae dulces ; sunt quae mitescere flamma, 
Mollirique queant. Nee vobis lacteus humor 
Eripitur, nee mella thymi redolentia florem. 
Prodiga divitias alimentaque mitia tellus 
Suggerit, atque epulas sine ccede et sanguine praebet. 

The experience of so many ages may suffice to 
teach us the only way in which we can expect to 
reap the fruits of Church-history. The industry of 
three centuries has discovered the facts ; the pro- 
gress of civilization and literature has brought to 
light the principles. But where is the Christian 
philosopher, who free from the miserable bondage 
of party, and enlightened not only by human 

p 2 



212 HOPES AND PROSPECTS. [Chap. III. 

science but the grace of God, shall put his sickle 
into the harvest, and supply the Lord's family, not 
with stones, but bread ? That Ecclesiastical history 
may at length be cultivated on right principles and 
in a right spirit, is an object which well deserves our 
prayers. 



CHAPTER IV. 



ON THE SOURCES OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 



IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY OF THE SOURCES OF CHURCH- 
HISTORY PRIVATE SOURCES, OR TESTIMONY PUBLIC SOURCES, 

FURNISHED BY DOCUMENTS AND MONUMENTS. 

Valuable as are the labours of the modern writer 
of Ecclesiastical history, and important as it is~ that 
we should be provided with learned and able guides 
in our inquiries into the past condition and fortunes 
of the Church, the intelligent student will not trust 
himself exclusively to their direction, but will be 
ever anxious to pursue his researches to the ulti- 
mate sources of information. The judicious scholar 
who undertakes the business of the historian, though 
he may have no facts to communicate which are 
not accessible to all, — by merely collecting and ar- 
ranging the materials of our knowledge of other 
times, and placing them in the light best calculated 
to convey instruction, renders the world no common 
service. If he is duly qualified for the work he has 
taken in hand, he will be so well acquainted with 
the subject he attempts to illustrate, so well aware 



214 IMPORTANCE OF THE SOURCES. [Chap. 

of the nature of his materials, so well versed in the 
various kinds of learning which bear upon the object 
of his inquiry, that even his private opinions upon 
the points connected with it must have their value ; 
and upon most matters to which his attention has 
been directed, his judgment must have more weight 
than that of the ordinary scholar. But the most 
accomplished historians are but men. They have 
their literary and moral infirmities. In his attempts 
to elucidate Church-history, one will be deficient 
in philological learning ; another will be wanting 
in sound judgment. In one instance we have to 
complain of inelegance, or confusion, or want of 
harmony ; in another we have to regret credulity, 
or prejudice, or excessive scepticism. Here we are 
pained by the absence of religious feeling ; there 
we are offended by fanaticism and superstition. 
But whatever weakness may predominate, even 
though no fault be prominent, the truth as it 
passes through the mind of an individual writer, 
inevitably takes a certain colouring. The various 
facts are qualified, in some degree or other, by the 
process to which they are submitted in the mental 
elaboration* In the case of prejudiced and violent 
writers, they almost lose their very character. They 
are more or less affected as they pass through the 
minds of the most honest and candid. When we 
reflect on this, and remember, moreover, that too 
many have written upon false principles, and even 
to vindicate error, we must feel that if we value 



IV.] DIVISION OF THE SOURCES. 215 

truth, we must seek it, if we have the opportunity, 
where it is to be found un corrupted, and gratify 
our thirst for knowledge by drinking at the foun- 
tain. 

But the number of those who derive their know- 
ledge of history immediately from the sources, can 
never be extensive. Such researches require a 
disposition, an education, and opportunities, that 
cannot be general. It may be enough for the 
cause of learning, for those who write and teach, to 
pursue a course of original study, and for the public 
to exact such a course with unrelenting severity in 
all who venture to minister to its instruction. But 
more feel interested, or should feel interested, to 
know what are the sources of history, than those 
who can use them. All who entertain an intelli- 
gent curiosity respecting Church-history must desire 
to know the materials out of which it is con- 
structed. It is therefore but proper to follow up 
the account which has been given in the preceding 
pages of the progress of Church-history, by such a 
notice of the sources, as may be sufficient to fur- 
nish, at all events, a general notion whence we 
derive the most direct and credible information 
respecting the history of the Church. 

The sources of Church -history are either private 
or public. 

I. The private Sources are those which are sup- 
plied by the Testimony of individuals, whether 
historians, biographers, or other writers. 



216 QUALIFICATIONS NECESSARY IN [Chap. 

II. The public Sources are Documents and Monu- 
ments; the former including Civil laws, Instruments, 
Ecclesiastical laws of every kind, Creeds, Liturgies, 
Acts of councils, Rules of religious orders, and all 
pieces of an official nature ; the latter, Buildings, 
Medals, Inscriptions, Vestments, Images, and all 
other works of art. 

Before I proceed further, it may be well to make 
a few remarks on the qualifications which are 
required in the student of the original materials of 
Church-history. It is evident that he must possess 
considerable antiquarian * and philological 2 know- 
ledge, and that he should be acquainted with 

1 The ecclesiastical antiquities have been illustrated by our 
learned countrymen, Cave (Primitive Christianity) and Bingham 
(Christian Antiquities). The most recent work on a large 
scale is that of /. C. W. Augusti (Denkwiirdigkeiten aus der 
christlichen Archaologie, Leipzig, 1817 — 31, in 12 vols. 8vo.) 
The unfinished work of Mamachius (Originum et Antiquitatum 
Christianarum libri xx. Romae, 1749 — .55), of which six 
books, in five volumes 4to, only were published, represents the 
opinions of the Ultramontane Romanists. Selvaggi, Pelicia, 
and Binterim, all Roman Catholics, have also written on the 
Christian antiquities. 

2 The most important works of ecclesiastical philology are 
Suiceri Thesaurus Ecclesiasticus e Patribus Graecis, Amstel. 
1682; ib . 1728; and Ducange's Glossaries, viz. Glossarium 
ad Scriptores Mediae et Infimae Graecitatis, Lugd. 1688, in two 
volumes folio ; and Glossarium ad Scriptores Mediae et Infimae 
Latinitatis, Lutet. Paris, 1678, in three volumes folio; en- 
larged in a third edition to six volumes by the Benedictines in 
1733 — 36, and continued in four more by Carpentior in 1766. 



IV.] THE STUDENT OF THE SOURCES. 217 

general history \ both political and literary, chrono- 
logy 2 , geography 3 , and (if he would carry his 
researches to the manuscripts) diplomatic 4 . He 
should be in a condition constantly to employ a 
sound and judicious criticism ; he should not be 
ignorant of science or of art. His imagination 
should be sufficiently vigorous to transport him to 
other lands and other times ; and his mind should 
be superior to vulgar prejudices. But above all, he 
must be under the influence of religious principle ; 
for no one but the spiritual man can appreciate and 
understand the various manifestations of religious 

1 The works on civil history are so numerous that it is not 
easy to make a selection. Of those in our own language, the 
most useful to the ecclesiastical student are Gibbon's Decline 
and Fall of the Roman Empire, and Hallarris History of the 
Middle Ages. 

2 I am not aware that there is any scientific work expressly 
written on Ecclesiastical chronology. But the great work of 
the Benedictines (1' Art de. verifier les Dates) extends to the 
whole subject. The latest work is Meier's Handbuch der 
Mathematischen und technischen Chronologie aus den Quellen 
bearbeitet, Berl. 1825 — 26, in two volumes 8vo. 

3 A. Miraei Notitia Episcopatuum Orbis Christiani. Antv. 
1613. Caroli a S. Paulo Geographia Sacra, edit. J. Cleric. 
Amstel. 1703. The ninth book of Bingham. 

i Mabillon de re Diplomatica, Paris, 1681 ; 1709. Nouveau 
Traite de Diplomatique par deux Religieux Benedictins, Paris, 
1750 — 65, 6 vols. 4to. The latest work on the subject which 
I find mentioned, is Schonemann's vollstandiges System der 
allgemeinen Diplomatik, Hamburg, 1801, 2. Bde. 8. 



218 ORIGINAL HISTORIANS. [Chaf. 

feeling \ and trace and estimate God's dealings 
with his Church. The accomplished inquirer must 
possess all these qualifications ; but persons of very 
inferior parts and acquirements, may, by the mere ex- 
ercise of a conscientious industry, render important 
service to the cause of truth, and obtain a highly 
satisfactory acquaintance with Church-history. 

I. The private sources of Ecclesiastical history 
are, as I have already observed, supplied by the 
Testimony of individual writers. 

J . In our inquiries respecting the events of past 
times, the guides to whom we most naturally turn 
for information, are the writers whose works were 
expressly composed to communicate to posterity 
the knowledge which we are seeking to obtain, — 
I mean the historians 2 . It may well be thought 

1 Das Interesse fur Eine kirkliche Parthey, wie die Befan- 
genheit in der Art und Weise seiner Zeit, muss der kirchenhis- 
torische Forscher ablegen : dagegen kann er ohne christlich- 
religiosen Geist nicht in den innern Character der Erscheinungen 
der Kirchengeschichte eindringen, weil man iiberhaupt keine 
fremde geistige Erscheinung historisch richtig auffassen kann, 
ohne sie in sich zu reproduciren. Nur solche Forschung kann 
entdecken, wo der christliche Geist ganz fehlt, wo er bios als 
Larve gebraucht wird, und welch ein anderer Geist an seine 
Stelle getreten ist : sie wird es aber auch nicht verkennen, wo 
er vorhanden ist, selbst wenn er sich in Erscheinungen aus- 
spricht, die unserer Art und Weise fremd sind. Gieseler, 
Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte. 1 Bd. S. 17. 

2 G. J. Vossius (de Historicis Graecis libri iv. ; de Historicis 



IV.] ORIGINAL HISTORIANS. 219 

that I have already said enough respecting this class 
of writers. But the word by which they are de- 
scribed, is in some degree equivocal. It is evident 
that it does not always bear the same meaning. I 
have hitherto used it in its most comprehensive 
sense, and designated by the name of Ecclesiastical 
historians all who have written on the history of 
the Church. But the writer who gives us the 
results of his own observation, and speaks from his 
own knowledge, or whose works were composed 
with some peculiar opportunities of obtaining in- 
formation, is evidently a historian in a different 
sense to the one who draws up his narrative from 
the materials transmitted by his predecessors. 
Though they are described by the same name, their 
claims upon our attention are quite dissimilar. The 
latter may deserve our admiration as an artist and 
a scholar ; but the former is an authority, and takes 
his place among the sources of history. 

The original historians whose works deserve to 
be regarded as authorities, either wrote at the time 
to which their works refer, or at a period so little 
removed from the events which they record, as to 
be able to collect traditional notices which must be 
regarded as possessing historic value. When we 

Latinis libri iii., in the fourth volume of his works, Amstel. 
1699) ; Sagittarius (Introductio in Hist. Eccles. Jenae, 1718); 
and Hamberger (Directorium Historicorum, Gottingae, 1772); 
communicate much useful information respecting the historians. 



220 ORIGINAL HISTORIANS. [Chaf. 

can consult historians who themselves took part in 
the transactions which form the subject of their 
narrative, or were eye-witnesses of the facts which 
they relate, we may congratulate ourselves on pos- 
sessing important testimony. But the personal 
character of the writers, and the circumstances in 
which they were placed, greatly affect the value of 
their evidence. Great as is the weight which is 
justly due to the statements of contemporary his- 
torians, we should remember that contemporaries 
and especially men engaged in public life, are likely 
to feel, in a peculiar degree, the influence of par- 
tiality and prejudice. And inferior as may at first 
sight appear the evidence of those who lived some- 
what later than the transactions they describe, we 
ought not to forget that when the excitement 
necessarily produced by great events has passed 
away, men are often in a more favourable condition 
for estimating their real character. The judicious 
inquirer will not, therefore, allow himself to be 
imposed upon by the high claims of a contemporary, 
nor despise the more modest testimony of a later 
historian. He will gladly consult and carefully 
examine even those who lived at a considerable 
interval from the times of which they wrote, well 
knowing that in many instances they were able to 
avail themselves of information which placed them 
almost, or altogether in the position of original 
writers. ■ It is not the Ecclesiastical historians 
merely whose testimony comes under this division 



IV.] BIOGRAPHERS. 221 

of the sources of Church-history. In our attempts 
to understand and illustrate the past condition and 
fortunes of the Church, the writers of civil history, 
even such as were not Christians, no less demand 
our attention. Incidental notices are sometimes of 
more importance than elaborate descriptions ; and 
the evidence which is accidentally furnished by 
indifferent or hostile witnesses, is often more con- 
vincing than any thing which can be said by those 
who may be suspected of partiality. 

But the rules wuich are generally employed in 
estimating this branch of historical testimony ', 
apply in their full force to the notices transmitted 
by historians respecting the history of the Church. 
Their statements form an important class of autho- 
rities; and though not always so important as at 
first sight they may appear, deserve to be placed in 
a high rank among the sources of Church-history. 

2. The biographers also form a very important 
class of witnesses. The relation in which biography 
stands to historical knowledge, is well known and 
estimated. It is an almost inexhaustible source of 
the history of the Church. From very early times, 
the friends and disciples of eminent Christians 
have often recorded the most interesting par- 
ticulars of their story, for the instruction of pos- 
terity; and the lives of the Saints accordingly 

1 J. A. Ernesti de Fide Historica recte aestimanda, ap. Opus- 
cula Philologica Critica, pp. 64—101. Edit. Lugd. Bat. 1776. 
Griesbach. de Fide Historica, ap. Opuscula Academica, torn. i. 
pp. 167—223. 



222 BIOGRAPHERS. [Chap. 

form a very extensive department of Ecclesiastical 
literature. From the brief notices afforded by 
Menologies 1 and Martyrologies 2 , and the minute 
and copious information often communicated by 
admiring panegyrists, we are able to collect many 
valuable facts relating to the general history of the 
Church, as well as abundant materials for the illus- 
tration of the history of personal religion. Besides 
the works of Palladius, Severus Sulpicius, Theodoret, 
Joannes Moschus, and others already alluded to 
in an earlier part of this work, we possess immense 
stores of Ecclesiastical biography. The collections 
of Lipomanni 3 , Surius 4 , the Benedictines 5 , and the 
Bollandists 6 , are composed entirely of this class of 

1 An ample account of the Menaea, the Menologia, and the 
Synaxaria, is given by Leo Allatius (de Libris Ecclesiasticis 
Graecorum, pp. 57 — 70, ap. Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vol. v.) 

2 A list of the martyrologies and calendars of the Latin 
church may be found in Fabricius, Bibl. Graec. vol. ix. pp. 
35—40. 

3 Aloysii Lipomanni Veronensis Episcopi, Vitae Sanctorum. 
Romae, 1551 — 1560, in eight volumes, 4to. 

4 Laurentii Surii, Carthusiani, Vitae Sanctorum Orientis 
atque Occidentis, ex variis auctoribus ac manuscriptis codicibus 
collectae ac per anni seriem digestae, Coloniae, 1569, in six 
volumes folio. Also Venet. 1581 ; Colon. 1581; and Colon. 
1618. 

5 Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti in Saeculorum class, 
distributa. Lutet. Paris. 1668, in nine volumes folio. I have 
transcribed the title at length, p. 143. 

6 Acta Sanctorum, quotquot toto Orbe coluntur ; vel a 
Catholicis Scriptoribus celebrantur.— The title has been given 
in page 142. 



IV.] DIVINES. 223 

materials ; and there are many important pieces of 
a similar nature to be found elsewhere. But there 
is no department of our subject which requires, in 
the student, a greater degree of critical sagacity and 
skill. Many of the most ancient and valuable lives 
of the Saints have been largely interpolated ; many 
which claim a high antiquity, are in reality the 
production of much later times. Those which 
are undoubtedly genuine, do not always contain 
authentic information. They are generally written 
in a style of extravagant hyperbole, and often 
exhibit a much greater desire to magnify the object 
of their panegyric, than to record the simple truth. 
The judicious inquirer, therefore, employs them 
with caution. And while he reverently traces in 
them the operations of that Spirit who " divides to 
every man severally as he will" he is constantly on 
his guard against the superstition and fanaticism of 
the writers, and endeavours carefully to separate 
fact from fable. 

3. Nearly all the writers, who have written on 
theological and ecclesiastical subjects since the 
introduction of Christianity, have contributed to 
increase the sources of Church-history. Though 
they may not have written with any intention of 
communicating historical information, the works of 
the Fathers 1 generally reflect great light on the 

1 Abundant information respecting the works of the Fathers 
is furnished by the writers of the literary history of the Church. 
Cave (Historia Literaria), Dupin (Nouvelle Bibliotheque des 

8 



DIVINES. [Chap. 

events and condition of the age in which they were 
composed. The writings of those of them especially 
who were themselves prominent objects of Church- 
history, form evidence of the most important kind, 
particularly when they are not of a strictly literary 
nature, but were occasioned by the passing circum- 
stances of the time ; the writings, for instance, of 
such men as St. Cyprian, St. Athanasius, and St. 
Austin, which were produced for the most part to 
meet particular emergencies, actually form part of 
Ecclesiastical history, and illustrate the transactions 
in which the authors were concerned, better than 
the narratives of the most accurate contemporary 
historians. Some writers of a very inferior rank 
often afford important information on particular 
subjects ; and even the works which have come 
down to us of the declared enemies of the Church, 
deserve the most careful investigation. But it re* 
quires sound judgment and extensive learning to 
use this class of testimony with advantage. We 
must receive with caution the evidence of con- 
troversial writers even of the highest reputation. 

Auteurs Ecclesiastiques), Oudinus (Comment, de Scriptoribus 
Eccles.), Fabricius (in his various Bibliothecae), Ceillier (His-> 
toire des Auteurs Sacres), Lumper (HistoriaTheol. Crit. SS.PP.), 
Rossler (Bibliothek der Kirchenvater), and Schonemann (Bib- 
liotheca Hist. Lit. Patrum Latinorum). Walch (Bibl. Patristica, 
edit. Danz.), indicates the best and latest editions ; and Ittigius 
(de Bibliothecis PP.), points out the pieces which are contained 
in the collections published before 1707. 



IV.] DIVINES. 225 

We must be cautious lest we draw too general 
conclusions from particular facts. The works of 
the Fathers have, as there is often reason to suspect, 
been mutilated and interpolated ; and spurious 
pieces have frequently been ascribed to the most 
illustrious names. Their genuine writings are some- 
times obscure, and rarely to be understood without 
attentive study. And great as is the importance of 
this branch of testimony, inasmuch as some of the 
most interesting and instructive points of Church- 
history (the progress of doctrine and opinion, for 
instance), are traced almost exclusively in the works 
of the Christian doctors, we must not assign it a 
disproportionate value, or allow the veneration which 
we ought to entertain for the worthies of the Churchy 
to relax the caution with which we should pursue 
our enquiries. 

II. The second class of the sources of Ecclesias- 
tical history differs in its very nature from that which 
has been already noticed. The one consists of tes- 
timony, the other of actual facts. Both indeed are 
equally indispensable. Without the aid of private 
testimony, documents and monuments would often 
be unintelligible ; and without these public sources 
of history, we should want what is sometimes abso- 
lutely necessary to confirm the information com- 
municated by individual writers. In assigning a 
high rank to the class which we are now to review, 

Q 



226 PUBLIC SOURCES. [Chap. 

I do not intend to detract from the value which 
properly belongs to the one which I have already 
noticed. It must be confessed, however, that the 
testimony of individuals, who usually feel a deep 
interest of some kind or other in the transactions 
which they relate, is likely to be affected by the 
prejudices and passions of the witnesses : whereas, 
when we have before us a genuine document or 
monument, we have an undoubted fact. The in- 
formation which it communicates may not perhaps 
be great, but, as far as it goes, it must be true. It 
places us, with respect to the subject to which it 
refers, in the situation of contemporaries. And 
thus these remains of antiquity not only appeal to 
our senses, and help us to form more correct con- 
ceptions of the state of things in past ages, but 
themselves afford the purest and most satisfactory 1 
materials of history. 

1 Nescio, quomodo in iis, quae privata auctoritate traduntur, 
animus semper aliquid amplius desideret, quod majorem credendi 
necessitatem afferat : propterea quod, quae res voluntati humanae 
relictae sunt, in iis nihil esse omnino certi potest, cum ipsa nihil 
sit incertius, atque mobilius. Itaque, nisi res ipsa, aut alia 
quaedam haud dubia signa accedant, quibus privata sustentetur 
fides, dubius animus relinquitur. Quod secus est in iis, quae 
publica auctoritate legentibus commendantur : in quibus, quia 
inest quaedam conveniens istis rebus necessitas, animus nihil 
amplius requirit. J. A. Ernesti de fide Historica recte aesti- 
manda, ap. Opuscula Philologica Critica, p. 68, edit. Lugd. 
Bat. 1776. 



IV] CIVIL LAWS. 227 

The Public sources of Church-history are natu- 
rally divided into Documents and Monuments — 
i. e. official writings and works of art. 

The former of these — namely, Documents — first 
demand our attention. 

1. The relation in which the Church has stood to 
the State has led, from time to time, to the produc- 
tion of an important kind of information in the 
successive enactments of political legislation. 
For three centuries the government of the Roman 
empire maintained a fierce conflict with the Gospel, 
and the edicts of the Caesars rarely spoke to their 
Christian subjects any other language than that of 
threatening and denunciation. When Constantine 
submitted to the power of the Cross, and began the 
long succession of Christian princes, a different state 
of things arose, and we trace in the civil law 1 the 
public establishment of Christianity on the ruins of 
paganism. As the supremacy of Rome was over- 
thrown, and new kingdoms arose in the Western 
world, the laws of the several states continue to 
illustrate Ecclesiastical history. And not merely 
the statutes of the Christian nations* but their cus- 
toms and usages, throw light upon the condition 
and constitution of the Church. But the jealousy 
of rival professions, the interests of conflicting juris- 
dictions, and the opinions of contending sects, have 
introduced embarrassment and uncertainty into 

1 The Theodosian code, and the later portions of the civil 
law, exhibit in a compact form the legislation of the empire. 

Q 2 



228 INSTRUMENTS. [Chap. 

some of the most interesting subjects connected 
with this branch of Ecclesiastical antiquities ; and 
candour and acuteness are not less requisite than 
legal and historical learning, for the successful study 
of this department of the sources of Church-history. 
2. From a very early period we find the Church 
in possession of real property ; and after the Divine 
authority of Christianity had been recognized by 
the State, princes, cities, and wealthy individuals 
vied with each other in the magnificence of their 
liberality towards the favoured members of the 
spiritual estate. The legal instruments 1 which 
conveyed the munificence of founders and bene- 
factors, and marked the conditions on which they 
extended their bounty, reflect much light on the 
external and internal history of the Church. The 
grants, statutes, charters, and documents of every 
kind, connected with endowments, deserve the at- 
tentive examination of the Ecclesiastical student. 
They illustrate in a very interesting manner the 
opinions and feelings prevalent in society on reli- 
gious subjects, and often explain and communicate 
important facts. But they must be studied cau- 
tiously. Ambitious individuals, and selfish commu- 
nities, have sometimes not scrupled to aggrandize 
themselves, or their elders, by the base acts of fabri- 
cation and corruption. The student of muniments 

1 Immense stores of documents of this kind have been pub- 
lished in various collections ; such as those of D'Achery, Mar- 
tene, Baluze, and Ludewig. 



IV] COUNCILS. 229 

needs an extensive acquaintance with diplomatic, 
and a sagacious critical sense ; and if he be not 
in a high degree unprejudiced and impartial, he 
will inevitably be the victim of credulity or scep- 
ticism. 

3. The governors of the churches assembled in 
council, form the venerable senate of the Christian 
commonwealth; and the proceedings of the chief 
pastors of the Church, publicly convened for solemn 
deliberation, command the respectful attention of 
the historical student. I am not concerned with 
the authority of these assemblies in a theological 
point of view, nor called upon to express an opinion 
how far we are bound to acquiesce in their decisions. 
But it is at once evident that, historically regarded, 
the Councils 1 are of the utmost importance. The 

1 The following will, I hope, be found a correct list of the 
editions of the Councils. The titles of most of them are given 
at full length by Walch, Bibl. Theol. iii. 824—838. 

Merlin Parisiis, 1524, 2 vols. 

Crabbe ..... Colonise, 1538, 2 vols. ; 1551, 3 vols. 

Surius Coloniae, 1567, 4 vols. 

Collectio Veneta . . Venetiis, 1585, 5 vols. 

r Coloniae, 1606, 5 vols. ; 1618, 9 vols. ; 

BmiUS i Parisiis, 1636, 10 vols. 

Collectio Romana . Romas, 1608, 4 vols. 
Collectio Regia . . Parisiis, 1644, 37 vols. 
Labbe et Cossart . . Parisiis, 1671, 18 vols. 
Baluze (Nova Collectio) Parisiis, 1688, 1 vol. 
Hardouin .... Parisiis, 1715, 12 vols. 
Coleti Venetiis, 1728-33, 24 vols. 

Mansi 



230 COUNCILS. [Chap. 

opinions expressed in the debates, of which an ac- 
count has been handed down in their proceedings, 
the official papers connected with their convocation, 
the judgments which they pronounced respecting 
disputed articles of faith, and the canons which they 
enacted upon subjects of discipline and morals, stand 
in the very first rank of the materials of Church- 
history, and communicate the most valuable kind 
of information. The history of the councils is in- 
deed the most important part of the public history 
of the Church. The study of its records claims the 
days and nights of the ecclesiastical inquirer, and 
will reward his diligence with the most interesting 
and satisfactory knowledge 1 . 

Mansi (Nova Collectio) Lucae, 1748-52, 6 vols. 
Mansi Florentiae, 1759-98, 31 vols. 

The collections of Catalani, Sirmond, Spelman, Wilkins, 
Hartzheim, and others, comprise only national and provincial 
councils. 

1 Quaecunque habendorum horum conciliorum vel occasio 
fuerit, vel causa, illud tamen certum et indubitatum est, tarn 
grandem ab iis insignium eventuum factorumque numerum et 
copiam contineri, ut inde potissima et nobilissima ecclesiasticae 
historic pars constituatur. Quid, qu3eso, aptius, quid accom- 
modatius ad ipsam subinde explicandam prophanam historiam, 
quacum concilia saepe sunt arctissimo veluti vinculo affinitatis 
conjuncta ? Ex bis habes quaecunque in Ecclesia contigerunt, 
non solum dum haberentur, sed etiam ante, et post habita con- 
cilia : ex his percipis statum et naturam turn Orien talis, turn 
Occidentalis Ecclesiae : ex his cognoscis Imperatores, qui ibi 
regnarunt, eorumque successionem ; summorum Pontificum 
seriem, et cujusque pontificalus, tempus et durationem ; Epis- 



IV.] ECCLESIASTICAL LAWS. 231 

4. Besides the canons of general and provincial 
councils, the Church has admitted other pieces into 
the body of her legislation, and the canonical letters 
of popes, patriarchs, and other distinguished pre- 
lates, form part of the Ecclesiastical law. The 
enactments and judgments of the potentates of the 
Church, are equally interesting to those who do, 
and to those who do not recognise their authority ; 
and in his inquiries into the history of the Church, 
the zealous Protestant will study the canon law \ 
and the bulls of the later pontiffs, as carefully and 
assiduously as the most devoted Romanist. The 
decisions of a supreme judge on the most interest- 
ing cases submitted to his jurisdiction, may well be 
expected to afford important information. -The 
official papers of the court of Rome illustrate the 

copos, qui primi principes ecclesiarum cathedras occuparunt : 
controversias, quae in quolibet cuj usque regni imperiique angulo 
sunt exortae ; haereses identidem invectas, haereticorum absurda 
dogmata, eorumdem principiorum insolentiam et impietatem, 
obfirmatum in iis siistinendis sectatorum animum et audaciam, 
furorem et amentiam imperatorum gentilium ; persequutiones, 
quas crudeliter excitarunt ; contraria partiura studia, quae Jesu 
Christi sponsam discerpserunt ; insignes demum singularesque 
victorias, quas ab hostibus suis turn reportavit, cum jam eorum 
potentia et viribus quasi victa atque oppressa esse videbatur. 
F. Salmon de Studio Conciliorum, pars 1. cap. 2. art. 4. p. 20, 
of the Latin translation, Venetiis, 1764. 

1 Corpus Juris Canonici, edit. Boehmer. Halae, 1747, 2 vols. 
4to (for the earlier editions, see Fabr. Bibl. Graec. torn. xi. 
p. 91 — 94). Bullarum amplissima colleetio, edit. Coquelines, 
Romae, 1739, 28 vols, folio. 



232 RULES OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS. [Chap. 

progress of the papal usurpation, and exhibit its 
vigour and decay. The constitutions of inferior 
prelates which have received the sanction of na- 
tional or particular churches, deserve attentive 
examination ; and indeed all the pieces, whether 
of a judicial or legislative nature, which propound 
the principles and practice of Ecclesiastical law, 
rank among the most valuable materials of Church- 
history. 

5. During the long period which extends from 
the beginning of the fourth to the middle of the 
sixteenth century, the monks occupy a prominent 
position in the history of the Christian states, and 
demand a large share of the attention of the Ecclesi- 
astical student. Though they were soon recognised 
as legitimate members of the spiritual body, and 
gradually took their place among the hierarchy, 
they ever remained distinct in many important 
particulars from the secular clergy ; and their his- 
tory and condition can be rightly understood only 
by a careful study of their peculiar institutions. 
The Rules 1 of the religious orders communicate 
indispensable information on the subject of mo- 
nachism, and accordingly take their place among 
the sources of Ecclesiastical history. 

6. The perpetuity of the faith is the most inter- 
esting subject presented by Church-history to the 

1 L. Holstenii Codex Regularum Monasticarum, Romse, 1661, 
3 vols. 4to. Auctus a M. Brockie. August. Vindel. 1759, 
6 vols, folio. 



IV.] CREEDS. 233 

Christian student, and he gratefully avails himself 
of all the • evidence which tends to establish the 
Saviour's promise, that " the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against" the Church. In the Creeds and 
confessions which have in different ages and in 
different lands and languages, set forth " the faith 
once delivered to the saints," he traces the uni- 
formity of Christian doctrine, and learns to bless 
the goodness and power of Him who, in spite of 
man's corruption and Satan's malice, has ever pre- 
served inviolate the fundamentals of the Gospel. 
From the confessions of heretical and schismatical 
bodies, and the anathematisms in which the Church 
has expressed her sense of their errors, we also 
derive much valuable information. Symbolical 
literature is in its very nature historical, and forms 
one of the most important sources of Church- 
history. 

7. The history of Christian worship is perhaps 
only inferior to that of Christian doctrine, and on 
this point we gain the most extensive information 
from the ancient Liturgies. That some of these 

1 C. G. F. Walchii Bibliotheca Symbolica Vetus ex Monu- 
mentis quinque priorum Sseculorum collecta et illustrata. 
Lemgovise, 1770, 8vo. Bingham's Antiquities, book x. 

2 J. S. Assemani, Codex Liturgicus Eccles. Universae, Romae, 
1749 — 66, 13 vols. 4to. Goar, Euchologium Graecum, Parisiis, 
1647, fol. Renaudot, Liturgise Orien tales, Parisiis, 1716,2 vols. 
4to. Muratorii Liturgia Romana vetus, Venet. 1748, 2 vols, 
fol. Martene de Antiquis Ecclesiae Ritibus, Rothomagi, 1700, 



234 LITURGIES. [Chap. 

interesting pieces, which come down to us inscribed 
with the venerable names of Apostles and Fathers, 
are substantially the same as were used by the 
primitive Christians, can scarcely be doubted ; and 
the learning, sagacity, and diligence which some 
able ecclesiastical critics have brought to the study 
of liturgical literature, have enabled them to detect 
with wonderful accuracy the later alterations and 
interpolations. It is not only the public worship 
of the Christian communities which is illustrated 
by these interesting remains ; the doctrine and 
polity of the Church, and every thing relating to 
ecclesiastical observances, may be studied in these 
sources ; and the melancholy history of the progress 
of error and superstition, may be satisfactorily traced 
in the ancient and modern rituals. 

8. Though I have now enumerated the various 
classes of documents which have the greatest claim 
to be regarded as possessing a public character, there 
are other pieces which, on account of their official 
nature, deserve to be mentioned here. We meet, 
for instance, with letters written by some bishops 
in the name of their churches, by others in the 
name of synods over which they presided, or on other 
similar occasions, which thus come to us invested 
with an authority which does not belong to the 

2 vols. 4to. Antverp. 1736; Venet. 1783, 4 vols. fol. Many 
other collections are important. Mr. Palmer has communicated 
much valuable information respecting the ancient liturgies in his 
Origines Liturgicae. See also Bingham, b. xiii — xv. 



IV.] MONUMENTS. 2S5 

productions of individuals. The works of the early 
apologists, again, were often composed in the name 
of the whole Christian body, or of the believers of a 
particular city or province. The writings composed 
under such circumstances, expressing as they do 
the sentiments of communities more or less ex- 
tensive, have manifestly something of a public 
character, and deserve to be ranked among the 
public sources of Ecclesiastical history. 

III. It was impossible for such a system as Chris- 
tianity to operate on large bodies of men without 
producing visible and tangible proofs of its influence. 
Man in a civilized state has certain uniform means 
of giving expression to his inward emotions. His 
ideas of magnificence and beauty find utterance not 
only in poetry, but in art. His religious feelings 
have always been ready to contract a close alliance 
with the powers of his imagination, and to express 
themselves in the forms prescribed by the prevailing 
taste. Not poetry only, but architecture, painting, 
and the domestic arts, have been pressed into the 
service of the spiritual sense. Hence it is, that 
Monuments rank among the sources of the history 
of religion. In some instances they furnish us with 
all we know. Time, which has swept away the 
scanty literature of early nations, has found it 
harder to deal with metals and marbles. And even 
when literary materials are abundant, we cannot 



236 ARCHITECTURE. [Chap. 

but regard them as supplying information of peculiar 
value. 

A connection between religion and art of the 
most intimate nature long prevailed in the Church. 
For many ages Christianity was, as it were, written 
upon every thing which was brought into existence 
by human labour among all who made profession of 
the Gospel. We trace its progress and influence 
scarcely more plainly in literature, than w T e do in 
the remains which we possess of sesthetical and even 
mechanical industry. And the buildings, images, 
pictures, medals, inscriptions, vestments, and vessels 
of the ancient Christian nations, furnish an impor- 
tant and productive source of Church-history. 

1. Architecture, the most noble of the arts, 
undoubtedly claims the first place in this part of 
our subject. The first temples in which the Saviour 
was worshipped, were humble as were his first wor- 
shippers. The secret chamber, and dens of the 
earth were the places of assembly chosen by the 
poor outcasts, whose only safety was in eluding the 
jealous observation of their persecutors ! . Yet the 

1 Celsus could say, ftio/jtovg kcii ayciAjuara /ecu veiog iSpvadai 
(j>Evyeiv, ap. Origen. contra Celsum, lib. viii. c. 17. torn. i. p. 754. 
Ed. Bened. ; and the heathen objector in Minucius Felix could 
inquire, Cur nullas aras habent, templa nulla, nulla nota simu- 
lachra? Octav. ap. Bibl. PP. torn. ix. cap. 6. edit. 1644. But 
the word ecclesia appears to be applied to a building for religious 
worship by Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria. 



IV.] ARCHITECTURE. 237 

natural feelings soon overcame every difficulty. 
Encouraged by intervals of tranquillity, and their 
increasing numbers, the despised followers of the 
cross learned to assume greater confidence, and 
some time before the Gospel had obtained legal 
toleration many capacious edifices * had been erected 
for Christian worship. But these early temples 
were demolished in the last and most severe of the 
persecutions. They had probably few pretensions 
to architectural merit : and at all events must have 
been very inferior to the magnificent structures 
which rapidly arose in the principal cities, as soon as 
Christianity had become the religion of the empire. 
The first Christian emperors evinced the sincerity 
of their devotion, or endeavoured to conciliate the 
respect and affection of their subjects, by providing 
for the erection of sacred edifices; and the most 
distinguished prelates displayed all their energy in 
their attempts to incite the powerful and the 
wealthy to adorn and enrich the houses of God. 
The government permitted, and even encouraged, a 
practice which soon became common, of converting 
heathen temples into Christian churches; and in 
many instances public buildings, which had been 
used for civil purposes, were given up to be 
henceforth employed as places of Christian wor- 
ship. The far greater part of these edifices have, of 

1 Evpeiag elg ttXcltoq hvaitaaac, rag Ttokzic, Ik OsfieXiiov nviarioy 
sKKXrjm'ag. Euseb. lib. viii. cap. i. 



238 ARCHITECTURE. [Chap. 

course, long since fallen a prey to the disorders of 
succeeding times and the natural process of decay. 
Of the few that remain, none supply us with the 
full amount of instruction which we could wish 
them to contribute. They have been adapted by 
later generations to the changes which gradually 
obtained in the Church : and we can restore them 
to their original simplicity only by the aid of the 
descriptions of the churches of that period, which 
we find in the works of contemporary writers. 
With this help, however, they afford much assistance 
to the Ecclesiastical historian in his inquiries re- 
specting the worship and discipline of the ancient 
Church. 

The settlement of a new population in the western 
division of the Roman world, produced a state of 
things altogether different to that presented by the 
ancient system. The Gospel, indeed, eventually 
triumphed over the heathenism of the barbarian 
conquerors, and the rudeness of the first genera- 
tions was soon succeeded by a rapidly increasing 
civilization ; but the condition of society, which had 
lasted for so many ages, was dissolved. Nations in 
a different stage of the progress of cultivation had 
gained the ascendancy. Manners, intelligence, taste, 
were regulated by another standard, and followed 
other directions, and nature and feeling took the 
place of experience and formality. The Christian 
edifices which had adorned the provinces, had in 
many instances been swept away by the violence of 



IV.] ARCHITECTURE. 239 

the torrent. And when the victorious tribes em- 
braced the religion of their subjects, their first 
churches naturally accorded with their habits and 
modes of life. But the frail structures which 
satisfied a ruSe people, were gradually supplanted 
by more substantial and aspiring works. Under 
the guidance of the clergy, whose pursuits and 
superior intelligence led them to look back to 
a state of greater refinement, which still partially 
lingered beyond the Alps, they learned to imitate 
the forms and spirit of Roman art. The semicir- 
cular arch resting upon massive columns, finely 
represented the dignity and severity of the ancient 
system, and the solemn spirit of the early Eccle- 
siastical architecture awed the public mind to sub- 
mission and obedience. As the general intelligence 
increased, and greater activity prevailed in the 
western world, more imagination and variety were 
exhibited in the structures devoted to religious 
purposes. The pointed arch, and its kindred pecu- 
liarities, spread from Lombardy, or the East, over 
the whole of Christian Europe with a rapidity which 
denotes a general ability to appreciate the merits of 
liveliness and grace. The magnificence and exu- 
berance of the succeeding period were not less 
universal. And before the end of the fifteenth 
century every province of western Christendom 
exhibited noble specimens of these monuments of 
religion and genius. 

The revival of a classical taste in art, at the era 



240 ARCHITECTURE. [Chap. 

of the revival of letters, terminated the existence of 
the indigenous architecture of the west. Its proudest 
efforts were despised, its very principles were for- 
gotten. For nearly three centuries the greatest 
achievements of Teutonic genius were ridiculed as 
childish toys, or regarded with stupid wonderment. 
It is within the last fifty years that they have be- 
come the object of rational curiosity, and been stu- 
died in a spirit of intelligent criticism. The inge- 
nious investigations of two generations of antiqua- 
rians and artists, who have examined this interesting 
subject with a diligence and acuteness worthy of its 
importance, have led to the recovery of the main 
principles of Gothic art ; and we have been enabled 
by a series of inquiries 1 , conducted in the true spirit 
of science, to find in the remains of the architecture 
of the middle ages a fruitful source of Church- 
history. A very limited acquaintance with the dis- 
coveries to which I allude, will enable the student 
to perceive, at a glance, the period to which he 
should refer any Ecclesiastical or monumental struc- 
ture. And a more intimate knowledge of this 

1 The History and Antiquities of the Conventual and Cathedral 
Church of Ely, by the Rev. James Bentham, Cambridge, 1771 ; 
a Treatise on the Ecclesiastical Architecture of England, during 
the Middle Ages, by the Rev. John Milner, D.D. ; Architectural 
Antiquities of Great Britain, by J. Britton, 5 vols. 4to, London, 
1807 — 14; an Attempt to discriminate the Styles of Archi- 
tecture in England, from the Conquest to the Reformation, by 
Thomas Rickman, London, 1817; an Historical Essay on 
Architecture, by Thomas Hope, Esq., 2 vols. 8vo, J^ondon, 1835. 

8 



IV.] IMAGES. 241 

branch of antiquities will often enable him to rescue 
important facts from the tenacious grasp of igno- 
rance and fable. 

2. The abhorrence with which the early Christians 
regarded the pagan idolatry, induced them to look 
with jealousy upon the labours of the sculptor 1 . 
Though the courtly subjects of the first Christian 
emperors readily complied with the common mode 
of flattery, and peopled Rome and Constantinople 
with the statues of their sovereigns, the Church 
was slow in receiving these dangerous ornaments ; 
and they were scarcely admitted into sacred edifices 
before the end of the sixth century. When they 
were once common, (and they were not common in 
the West till a much later period,) they multiplied 
with wonderful rapidity. They became objects not 
only of respect but of worship, and eventually formed 
one of the greatest scandals of the Church. But 
while we deplore the effects of images in confirming 
and extending superstition, we gladly avail ourselves 
of such as have escaped the ravages of time and 
violence, for the illustration of Ecclesiastical history. 
Many great events, many curious fables, and many 
important facts, connected with the opinions and 
customs which prevailed in the Church during the 
middle ages, are explained by these remains. And 
the antiquarian is sometimes ready to express, in 
language little edifying to the zealous iconoclast, 

1 Bingham, Book viii. c. 8. 
R 



C M2 PAINTINGS. [Chap. 

the regard he feels for these monuments of the 
rude taste and misdirected piety of our ancestors. 

3. But we are less indebted to the chisel than to 
the pencil. Painting can effect more than her 
more severe and dignified sister. She gives us not 
only single forms, but groups and colours, and 
transmits that which language could not commu- 
nicate. There is no branch of history which de- 
rives more direct and abundant illustration from 
painting, than the history of the Church. The illu- 
minations of manuscripts were chiefly the work of 
ecclesiastics, and, in the great majority of instances, 
adorn religious books. A great part of the ancient 
pictures which have come down to us, were designed 
as the ornaments of sacred edifices. Hence it is 
that the ceremonies of religious worship, the pro- 
ceedings of Councils, the dresses and ornaments of 
the various orders of the hierarchy, and other mat- 
ters of great interest to the Ecclesiastical student, 
are often happily explained by the remains of this 
branch of art. 

4. The importance of numismatics in the critical 
study of history, is universally acknowledged. Many 
memorable events, and many interesting points of 
chronology and geography, would have remained 
unknown, had they not been brought to light by 
coins and medals. And no kind of history has de- 
rived more advantage from discoveries of this nature 
than the .history of the Church. 

5. The inscriptions which celebrate the services 



IV.] INSCRIPTIONS. 243 

of eminent persons, record the names and titles of 
the dead, or perpetuate the memory of remarkable 
transactions, often communicate important informa- 
tion of a historical nature. The tombs especially of 
departed Christians 1 , whether in the catacombs of 
the ancient cities, or the magnificent churches of 
the middle ages, often make us acquainted with 
facts which would otherwise have remained undis- 
covered, and exhibit inscriptions which take a high 
rank among the sources of Ecclesiastical history. 

6. The vestments worn by the ministers of the 
sanctuary, and the vessels employed in the per- 
formance of the Divine service, throw much light 
on the history of Christian worship, and mark the 
progress of opinion on some of the most interesting 
subjects, respecting which we look for information 
to the history of the Church. 

It is obvious, however, that monuments of every 
kind may serve to mislead rather than instruct us, 
if they are not studied with extreme caution. Un- 

1 Roma Subterranea novissima in qua post Antonium Bosium 
Antesignanum, Jos. Severanum Congreg. Oratorii Presbyterum, 
et celebres alios Scriptores Antiqua Christianorum et praecipue 
Martyrum Ccemeteria, Tituli, Monimenta, Epitaphia, Inscrip- 
tionesj ac nobiliora Sanctorum Sepulchra sex libris distincta il- 
lustrantur, et quamplurimae res Ecclesiasticae Iconibus graphice 
describuntur, ac multiplici turn sacra, turn profana eruditione 
declarantur. Opera et studio Pauli Aringhi Romani Congreg. 
ejusdem Presbyteri. Coloniae et veneunt Lutetise Parisiorum, 
1659. The works of Ciampini, Jacutius, and others, are also 
important. 

R 2 



244 IMPORTANCE OF MONUMENTS. [Chap. IV. 

less we carefully ascertain the period to which they 
actually belong, and the uses in which they were 
employed, we shall inevitably fall into the snares 
which beset the path of the prejudiced and indolent 
student. If, on the contrary, we pursue our re- 
searches with diligence and care, we shall find this 
department of the sources of Ecclesiastical history 
rich in the purest instruction. Independently of 
the direct information which monuments communi- 
cate, they are of the greatest value in imparting 
substance and reality, so to speak, to historical 
knowledge. They link together the present and 
the past ; they give correctness and precision to our 
views of antiquity, and powerfully assist the languid 
imagination in its efforts to hold communion with 
distant ages. 



APPENDIX. 



Note A. p. 12. 

Constantinus Augustus, cum Csesaream fuisset ingres- 
sus, et diceret memorato Antistiti (Eusebio), ut peteret 
aliqua beneficia Csesariensi Ecclesice profutura, legitur, re- 
spondisse Eusebium ; opibus suis Ecclesiam ditatam, nulla 
petendi beneficia necessitate compelli : sibi tamen deside- 
rium immobile exstitisse, ut, quicquid in Republica Romana 
gestum sit erga Sanctos Dei per judices judicibus succeden- 
tes in universe orbe Romano, solicita perscrutatione, monu^ 
menta publica discutiendo perquirerent ; et qui Martyrum, 
a quo judice, in qua provincia, vel civitate, qua die, quave 
perseverantia passionis suae obtinuerint palmam, de ipsis 
archivis sublata ipsi Eusebio, Regio jussu dirigerent. 
Unde factum est, ut idoneus relator existens, et Ecclesias- 
ticam Historiam retexeret, et omnium pene Martyrum 
provinciarum omnium Romanarum trophsea diligens his- 
toriographus declararet. S. Hieronymi Epist. ad Chroma- 
tium et Heliodorum. Opera, torn. xi. col. 474. Edit. 
Vallarsii, fol. Though this letter is now acknowledged 
not to have been written by Jerome, it is evidently very 
ancient. 

Note B. p. 15. 

Tag tl)v hpwv 'AttootoXcuv Siado)(ag avv teal rotg cltto 
tov Htwrripog rifiivv kol tig rifiag ^uqvvGfiivoig xpovoig ' 



246 APPENDIX. 

oaa te kcu Trr\XiKa 7rpayp.aTEvQrivca Kara tyjv £KicArj<7maT{K»)v 
iGTOpiav XiyETai, kol ocfol Tct\)Tr\g Sm7rp£7rwc iv ratg juaXtaTa 
Emery [lOTciTaig TrapoiKicug i\yi\aavT6 te kcu TrpOECTTtjaav ' 
ogol te Kara ytveav ekcktttiv aypa(f>wg r) kcu $ia avyypap.- 
[mcitiov rbv Oelov iirpia^Evcjav Xoyov, rivEQ te kol 6<jol kol 
67r»?vi/ca vewTspoTToiiag IfXEp^, irXavrig elg ia\ara eXcktclvteq, 

XpEVCtoVVflOV yVlO(J£(i)Q UGT}yr)TCLQ kavTOvg CtVaKEKTipV^CKTlV, 

atyuciog ola Xvkoi fiapeig ttiv tov Xptarov iroifivriv EWEVTpi- 

fioVTEQ irpOGZTL TOVTOt.Q KCU TO. TTapaVTlKa, TT\Q KCLTO, TOV 

Swrrjpoc i]fxCov evekev EirifdovXyg, to wav lovSaiow Wvog 
7rspiz\96vTa, oaa te av kcu birola KaO' o'iovg te \povovg 
irpog tCjv IQvCjv 6 Oeloq TTETroXifxriTat Xoyog, kcu TrriXiKOi 
KciTa Kcupovg Tovg EC aifxaTOQ kcu fiatjavwv v-irlp civtov 
ciE^riXOov ayCjjvctQ, tcl t ett\ tovtoiq kcu kciQ' r]fxag avTovg 
juLapTvpia, kcu T-qv liii iraoiv t'Xfw kcu EVfAEvr\ tov Sa>rf/pO£ 
17/xwv avTiXr)\pLv ypcMpy napadovvai Trporfpr]fiEVog. Euseb. 
Eccles. Hist. lib. i. cap. i. p. 1, 2. Edit. Reading. 

Note C. p. 16. 

Kestuer (p. 20 — 25) contends that the Hist. Eccles. 
was not written before 332. He thus concludes his 
treatise : Fides diplomatica Eusebii igitur, qualis in His- 
toric Eccles. fontium usu fuerit, si in universum dijudicas, 
eum omnia, quae Heynius (in comment, de Diodoro) a 
bono historico jure postulavit, scilicet: " ut in scriptoribus 
conquirendis diligentius versaretur, in dilectu eorum, quos 
sequeretur, et rerum, quos exponeret, judicium, consilium 
et fidem praestaret," et (quae mox adduntur) : " ut justo 
dilectu facto graviorum rerum nullam omitteret, ex autem 
quae afferret, justo ordine disponeret et oratione simplici 
atque perspicua rerumque argumentis accommodata ex- 
poneret."- Eusebium igitur haec et plura pro virili praestasse, 
non negare poteris, Comment, de Euseb. p. 84. 

8 



APPENDIX. 247 

NoteB. p. 17. 

The opinions given by Du Pin, Le Clerc, and Schrockh, 
who represent three very different schools, will show the 
estimation in which Eusebius has been held by modern 
critics : Sans PHistoire d'Eusebe nous n'aurions presque 
aucune connoissance, non seulement de PHistoire des 
premiers siecles de l'Eglise, mais meme des Auteurs qui 
ont ecrit en ce temps-la, ni de leurs Ouvrages, n'y ai'ant 

aucun autre Auteurquelui qui en ait ecrit II faut 

toutefois avouer que PHistoire d'Eusebe n'a pas toute la 
perfection qu'on pourroit souhaiter, qu'elle n'est pas 
ecrite agreablement, qu'elle n'est pas to uj ours exacte, que 
souvent l'Auteur s'etend trop sur des choses qu'il devroit 
passer legerement; et, au contraire, qu'il dit fort succincte- 
ment des choses qu'il devroit raconter plus amplement : 
mais ces defauts n'empechent point qu'elle ne soit^ un 
Ouvrage tres-estimable. Nouvelle Bibliotheque des Au- 
teurs Ecclesiastiques, tome ii. p. 3, 4. On peut se 
plaindre d'Eusebe, en ce qu'il y a mis diverses fables, 
comme celle d'Agbare, &c. et qu'il a commis diverses 

fautes contre la Chronologie Mais on lui doit 

pardonner ces defauts, parcequ'il est le premier, qui ait 
fait quelque chose de complet touchant Phistoire Chre- 
tienne ; qu'il nous a conserve un grand nombre de frag- 
ments d'anciens Auteurs que nous avons perdus, et qu'il a 
rapporte leurs sentiments avec assez de fidelite. C'est lui 
encore principalement qui nous peut fournir quelques 
lumieres, touchant le canon des livres du Nouveau Testa- 
ment. Bibliotheque Universelle de PAnnee 1688, p. 487. 
Es giebt zwar noch Lucken genug in seiner Erzahlung ; 
allein es ist billig, dass man dasjenige mit Dank annehme, 
was er geleistet hat. Man kann auch noch bey seiner 
Geschichte errinnern, dass verschriedene Nachrichten der- 



248 APPENDIX. 

selben einer scharfern Priifung benothigt sind, und 
manches Lob zu reichlich ausgeschtittet zu seyn scheinet. 
Aber im Ganzen betrachtet, verdient er dock ein unpar- 
theyischer und gemassigter Geschichtschreiber zu heissen : 
er unterlasst audi nicht die zweifelhaften Sagen von den 
gewissern Erzahlungen oft zu unterscheiden. Kirchen- 
geschichte, Th. i. S. 145. Edit. 1772. 

Note E. p. 20. 

Qui navali prselio dimicaturi sunt, ante in portu et in 
tranquillo mari flectunt gubernacula, remos trahunt, ferreas 
man us, et uncos piseparant, dispositumque per tabulata 
militem, pendente gradu, et labente vestigio stare firmiter 
assuescunt, ut quod in simulacro pugnse didicerint, in vero 
eertamine non pertimescant. Ita et ego qui diu tacui 
(silere quippe me fecit, cui meus sermo supplicium est) 
prius exerceri cupio in parvo opere, et veluti quamdam 
rubiginem linguae abstergere, ut venire possim ad latiorem 
historiam. Scribere enim disposui (si tamen vitam Domi- 
nus dederit; et si vituperatores mei saltern fugientem me, 
et inclusum persequi desierint;) ab adventu Salvatoris 
usque ad nostram setatem, id est, ab Apostolis, usque ad 
nostri temporis fecem, quomodo et per quos Christi Eccle- 
sia nata sit, et adulta, persecutionibus creverit, martyriis 
coronata sit; et postquam ad Christianos principes venerit, 
potentia quidem et divitiis major, sed virtutibus minor 
facta sit. Verum hsec alias. Nunc quod imminet expli- 
cemus. Opera, torn. ii. col. 41. Edit. Vallarsii. 

NoteF. p. 21. 

In the letter prefixed to the treatise, he thus explains 
its object : Hortaris, Dexter, ut Tranquilium sequens, 
Ecclesiasticos Scriptores in ordinem digeram, et quod ille 



APPENDIX. 249 

in enumerandis gentilium litterarum Viris fecit illustribus, 
id ego in nostris faciam, id est, ut a passione Christi usque 
ad decimum quartum Theodosii Imperatoris annum, omnes 
qui de Scripturis Sanctis memorise aliquid prodiderunt, 
ibi breviter exponam. Fecerunt quidem hoc idem apud 
Grsecos Hermippus Peripateticus, Antigonus Carystius, 
Satyrus doctus vir, et longe omnium doctissimus Aris- 
toxenus Musicus; apud Latinos autem Varro, Santra, 
Nepos, Hyginus, etad cujus nos exemplum vis provocare, 
Tranquillus. Sed non est mea et illorum similis conditio: 
illi enim historias veteres annalesque replicantes potuerunt 
quasi de ingenti prato parvam opusculi sui coronam texere. 
Ego quid acturus sum, qui nullum praevium sequens, 
pessimum (ut dicitur) magistrum memetipsum habeo? 
Quamquam et Eusebius Pamphili, in decern Ecclesiasticae 
Historiee libris, maximo nobis adjumento fuerit, et singu- 
lorum, de quibus scripturi sumus, volumina setates auctorum 
suorum ssepe testentur. Itaque Dominum Jesum Christum 
precor, ut quod Cicero tuus, qui in arce Romans eloquen- 
tiae stetit, non est facere dedignatus in Bruto, Oratorum 
Latinse linguse texens catalogum, id ego in Ecclesise ejus 
Scriptoribus enumerandis digne cohortatione tua impleam. 
Ap. Miraei Bibl. Eccles. p. 1. 

Note G. p. 21. 

In historia isthac concinnanda, temporisque ratione 
digerenda credulum admodum fuisse Rufinum constat, 
in fabulas et incertos plebeculee rumores nimis propensum, 
quos e trivio et tonstrina petitos Uteris mandare temere 
solebat. Unde Socrates cum ad ejus fidem primum et 
secundum Historic Eccles. libros formasset ; meliores 
postea nactus auctores, libros istos ex integro ordiri necesse 
habuit, quemadmodum ipse (Prsefat ad 1. 2.) nos docet. 



250 APPENDIX. 

Cave, Hist. Lit. Fabricius gives a similar opinion ; Bibl. 
Grsec. vi. 59. 

Note H. p. 23. 

Orosius presbyter, Hispanus genere, vir eloquens et 
Historiarum cognitor, scripsit adversum querulos et infa- 
matores Christiani nominis, qui dicunt defectum Romanae 
Reipublicse Christi doctrina invectum, libros septem; in 
quibus pene totius mundi temporis calamitates et miserias, 
ac bellorum inquietudines replicans, ostendit magis Chris- 
tians observationis esse, quod contra meritum suum res 
Romana adhuc duraret, et pace cultural Dei pacatum 
retineret imperium. Sane in primo libro describit posi- 
tionem orbis Oceani interfusione, et Tanais limitibus 
intercisam, situm locorum, nomina, numerum, moresque 
gentium, qualitates regionum, initia bellorum, et tyran- 
nidis exordia finitimorum sanguine dedicata. Gennadius 
Massiliensis, de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, cap. 39. 

Note I. p. 25. 

XpKJTiaviKrjv iGTOpiav gvvzOyikzv, r}v zv TpiaKOvra f£ 
fit(3\loig SieiXev ' ekckjtov Se j3tj3Atov el\e to/ulovq ttoXXovq, 
wg tovq -ravrag kyyvg elvai ^iXiovg. viroOemg Se ekclgtov 
TOjiov IgoZ,ei rq Topy. tyiv filv ovv TrpayparEiav Tavrr\v, 
ovk 'EKKXriGKKJTiKriv 'loropiav, a\Xa XpMTTiaviicrjv £7T£- 
ypaxpzv. TroWag Se (JWEi<T(pEpEi vXag zlg avrrjv, Ssacvvvai 
fiov\6pEvog, pi) aweipijjg e\elv kavrbv twv (piXoaotywv 
7rai$£VfjiaT<i)v ' Sib teal GvvE\uyg TehypETpiKiov re »cat 'Aorpovo- 

[AlKUV KCU ' kplO/ULrjTLKWV Kol M.OVGIKWV 6e (i)pi)f±a.TLOV TTOLtlTai 

fiVYi/ULriv. £K(j)pa<j£ig T£ Xzyojv v{]<j(jjv, kol bpiuv, kol SivSpwv, 
kcu aWtov tlvCjv evteXwv, gl o>v teal yavviqv rrjv irpaypa- 
relav upyavaTO ' Sib kcu, wg vopiZu, a\pEiav avrrjv feat 
iSiwraig koX EvTraiSevTOtg ttettoi^kev. oi iStioTai plv yap to 



APPENDIX. 251 

KtKOfiipzvfiivov Tr\g typacreijjg lSeiv ovk iG^yovaiv ' oi $£ 
eviraidevTOL, ty)q TavToXoyiag KaTayivd>GKOV(Jiv. aXX tKaar- 
rog fA.lv 7T£pi t£)v |3ij3Xtwv wg e\u yvwp,r\g Kpivlru). eyw $1 
Ikuvo (frrifJLi, otl Tovg xpovovg Tr)g laropiag avy^u. Socr. 
Hist. Eccles. lib. vii. cap. 27. p. 376. Compare Nice- 
phorus Callisti, Eccles. Hist. lib. xiv. cap. 29. torn. ii. 
p. 501. 

Note J. p. 29. 

Evaifiiog 6 Uajm^iXov Iv oXoig $£»ca fiifiXioig rr)v 'Ek- 
K\ricnaaTiKr)v laropiav £K0£jU£voc, KarkiTavGZV ug rovg 
Xpovovg tov j5a<Jt\e(i)g TLwvaTavTivov, kv dig kol 6 irapa 
tov AioicXriTiavov Kara XpiGTiaviov ysvo/nsvog Stwypog 
cnrziravaaTO. ypa<j>tov de 6 avrbg tig tov fdlov Kwvaravrt- 
vov, tCov Kar "Apeiov /uspiKiog fivr\p.r\v 7T£7roiY}Tai } rwv 
hiraivtov tov fiaviXiiog, Kal Tr)g iravr\yvpLKr\g vipr\yoplag tCov 
Xoywv fxaXXov, wg Iv lyicwfiity ^povrtcac, rj 7repl tov 
aKpifiiog irepiXafisTv to. yzvofizva. r)p.ug $£ irpoOifXEVOL crvy- 
ypaipai to. £% Ikz'ivov fxi\pi tCjv rrj$£ tteq\ Tag tKKXrjaiag 
yevofieva, Tr\g viroQicrHog ap^rjv, ££ wv l\cuvog cnriXnrE 9 
Tr6ir\Gop.zda ' ov (ppaaeiog oyicov (ppovriZovTeg, aXX oaa r] 
iyypafywg evpop.ev, r) irapa. tCjv laTopr\aavTd)v rjKOvaafjiEv 
diriyovjuievoi. Socrat. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. i. p. 5. 

Note K. p. 29. 

'Eyw Sc, £t ju£V a^iaipETog r) iiacXriGia jU£/x£vrjKa, koX ai)Tbg 
r)av\iav av rjyov. oirov yap viroOsaig fir) yopr\yu to ytvo- 
fiEva, irspiTTog 6 Xiywv \gtiv* Ittel^y) $£ ttjv cnro<jTo\iKr)v 

TOV XplGTiaVLGflOV TTIGTLV, Yf SloXeKTlKYJ KCU K£Vr) CLTTaTr) 

Gvvixeev iv TavTw ical diicnrsiptv, o}r)0riv Eeiv ypa<j)rj TavTa 
wapaBovvai, 07riog a p,r) atyavri yivr\Tat to. fcara Tag £/c- 
K\r\aiag ytvofieva ' r) yap 7T£pi tovtlov yvuxJig, irapa. filv 
Toig iroWolg Ka\ evicXeiav ^£/0£t * avTov c)£ tov ewiOTaiuLEvov 



252 APPENDIX. 

aarcpaXlaTEpov (nrtpyaZzTai ' SlScktku Si fir) aaXevevOai, 
Kevo(p(t)viag rivbg Ifnreaovarig Ik Xi^ewv. Socrat. Hist. 
Eccles. lib. i. cap. 18. p. 49. This is an important 
passage. The disorders of the Church are to Ecclesias- 
tical, what wars and political commotions are to civil 
history. There is nothing to strike us in peace and pub- 
lic happiness. We think of our health only when we are 
under the influence of disease. 

Note L. p. 30. 

r £lp[ir)0riv Si to. julv irpwra, die dpxng ravrriv avyypdipai 
rr)v TTpayfiaTtiav. Xoyiadfizvog Si wg kcu dXXoi ra\)Ty\g 
£7T£ipaQr)Gav JJ.ixP L T ^ v Kar ' avTOV Q XP° v(i)V > KXr)nir}g rc Kai 
'Hyrjcrnnrog, dvSpeg o-o^turarot, ry tCov ' AttogtoXwv Sia- 
So\y TTapaKo\ov6t)aavTEg, koX 'AQpiKavbg 6 <jvyypa(f>Eitg, 
Kai Eixrifiiog 6 £7rt»cXr]v TLajUKpiXov, dvr)p rCov Oeiwv ypatyiov 
Kai tCjv 7rap' "EXXrjat 7roir}Tu>v kol avyy pcKpeiov TroXvfiadia- 
rarog larwp' ova fxlv rtov ug r)fxag IXQovrwv ralg ekkAjj- 
aiaig <jvvifir\ juara tt)v dg ovpavovg dvoSov rov XjOiorou, 
fJLtXQi Trig AiKiviov KaQaipeaewg, iTTLTefiojievog lirpayfiarev- 
aafir\v iv j3i(5Xloig Svo. vvv Si <rvv 0£tJ cravat, ra fiera 
ravra SufZeXOetv Trupdaofxai. jufjuvrjorojuat Ss irpayfiariov, olg 
7rap£ru)(Ov, Kai irapd tCjv eISotivv r) SzaaafiiviDV afc^Koa, 
Kara rr)v rijULtrepav Kai irpb r)fiwv ysvedv' tljv Si TTEpairipu), 
rr)v KaraXrppiv i9r)pa(ra cnrb tCjv teOsvtwv vofiiov Sid ty)v 
$pr}<JKHav, Kai rwv Kara Kaipbv avvoSiov, koX vewrfpicrjuwv, 
kcu fiaaiXiKiov Ka\ hpariKtov iTnaroXCov ' wv at juiv, tig tri 
vvv Iv Tolg {3a<JiXdoig Ka\ ralg \KKXr\Giaig aio^ovrai' al Sl } 
mropaSriv irapd roTg (j)iXoX6yotg tyipovrai. tovtw Si tcl 
pr\Ta irtpiXafidv ry ypa(f>y 7roXXa.Kig ivvor}Qug, dfieivov 
eSoKL/uLaaa, Slo. rbv oyKOv Tr)g irpayfiaruag, rrjv iv avroTg 
Siavoiav GWTOfjLwg aivayyuXai' 7rXr)v el \iv\ri t£)v cijU0i- 
Xoyiov evpriaofitv, i<f wv Sid<f)Op6g iari rotg troXXotg Sd^a. 



APPENDIX. 25% 

TYiviKavra yap d zvTCopr)au) Tivbg ypa(j>r)g, irapaQr)<TOfAai 
ravTYiv elg awodsi^iv Tr)g a\r\duag. Sozom. Hist. Eccles. 
lib. i. cap. 1. p. 9, 10. 

Note M. p. 32. 

Ov\ omov ty{)Qr\v Xa/x7rporarwv epywv teal 6vr\Gi<pop(i)v Sir]- 
yrifjLarwv to k\£oq iraptSeiv virb Tr)g \r)drig gvXw/ulevov ' $ia 
yap ci) tovtq koX tCjv <TVvr)Oa>v Tivlg, Iwl tovc^e jue tov irovov 
7ro\XaKig TrapivTpvvav. lyiv $£ rrj p,lv ip.avTov Svvafiet ro§£ 
to epyov <JTa9pw[jievog } tt)v ly\elpi)(Tiv oppwo^io. Oappiov &£ 
Tif (ptXoTifjKi) SoTrjpt tCjv ayadiov, juieiZocnv rj jcar' t/navTov 
lyXfipu). Theodoret. Eccles. Hist. Prsefat. 

Note N. p. 34. 

Jam supra a nobis monitum est, Socratem ac Sozom e- 
num compluribus locis miro prorsus modo consentire. 
Cujus consensus quam exposuimus causam, quod scilicet 
ambo ex iisdem fontibus haurientes, atque omnia fere, 
quae ibi memorata invenirent, bona fide accipientes eadem 
quoque tradiderint, id jam nobis probandum est. Sed 
utrumque ex iisdem fontibus hausisse, historiarum tenor 
satis declarat. Seorsum ambos illis fontibus usos esse 
probando rei cardo vertitur. Quippe Socratis et Sozomeni 
historias in singulas partes, e quibus ab auctoribus com- 
posite sunt, adductis comparatisque fontibus, quantum 
fieri poterat, disponentes, Sozomenum aeque ac Socratem 
ex ipsis fontibus hausisse invenimus. Quae in universum 
diximus, ea singulis exemplis illustremus. Quod Eusebius 
testimonium narrationis de cruce, quae Constantino contra 
Maxentium proficiscenti in ccelo apparuerit, laudat, se 
scilicet illam rem ab ipso imperatore, jurejurando earn 
confirmante, accepisse, idem hoc laudat Sozomenus (lib. i. 
c. 3. cf. Euseb. Vit. Const, lib. i. c. 28). Socrates de illo 



254 APPENDIX. 

testimonio tacet. Quern vero Socrates ex Eusebio tran- 
scripsit locum (lib. i. c. 8. cf. Vit. Const, lib. iii. c. 7 — 9), 
is non legitur apud Sozomenum. Ex Athanasii porro 
epistola ad episcopos iEgypti et Libyae locum Sozomenus 
liabet, (lib. ii. c. 30. cf. Athanas. ed. Montf. torn. i. p. 289.) 
qui apud Socratem non occurrit, cum Socrates vice versa 
ex Athanasii Apologetico de fuga sua plura loca in suam 
historiam transtulerit (lib. ii. c. 28. cf. Athanas. torn. ii. 
p. 323. lib. iii. c. 18. cf. Athanasii Apolog. c. 8. seq.) quae 
apud Sozomenum non reperiuntur. Quamquam plura 
ejusmodi exempla, si iis opus esset, proferri possent, pro- 
lata tamen sufficiant. Quod si igitur Sozomenus ex 
iisdem fontibus quam Socrates hausit, nil profecto restat, 
quod e Socrate furatus sit. Cui si addis et Socratem et 
Sozomenum Constantinopoli degentes eas potissimum res, 
quae ad ecclesiam Constantinopolitanam attinerent, memo- 
riae prodendi habuisse consilium, et ambos res non tam ad 
materiae similitudinem, quam ad chronologicam rationem 
disposuisse, idem fere utriusque rerum ordo ac frequen- 
tissimus consensus non adeo, ut de Sozomeno a furti 
crimine liberando desperes, te detinebunt. Holzhausen, 
p. 31, 32. 

Note O. p. 43. 

^AvsyvtvaQr) 'loiavvov ^JLKic\r}GiaGTiKr} '\oropia. ap^trai 
airb rr\g 0£OcWiou rov viov fia<n\uag 9 air avrr\g irov rr\g 
NfoToptou fi\aatyr)i±iag Kai Kadaipiaeoyg^ /cat kcltekti fii\pL 
Zt)viovoq Kai rrig KaOaipiazwg Usrpov rov cuperiKou, og rov 
^Avtio\lkov v(j)rip7raGS Opovov. tan §£ ovrog rrjv (frpaaiv 
Ga(j>rig icai avdr\pog. Bdp\eraL de r-qv rpiry\v avvodov rrjv Iv 
'E0f<T(j> XtTTTOfJitpiog. aXXa /cat rriv fisra ravrrjv Iv avry 
(JwayeXatrQuGav, rrjv AriarpiKrjv Xlyo) ' fjv ovrog OeiaZzi, 
Kai rov ravrr\g fiyefiova AioaKopov kol rovg avv avry. 



APPENDIX. 255 

Stolen $£ leal tyjv Iv KaX^rjSovt <JVVO$OV } Siacrvpwv TaVTYJV. 
£^ wv Igtl avfifiaXuv 'Iwavvrjv elvai tov iraripa tov 

/3t/3XlOU TOV 7Tp£(j(5vT£pOV TOV A\y£aTTt]V, OQ KOL l$i(t)Q wg 

alpETiKog Kara Tr)g zv KaX^rjSovt gvvoBov ]3fj3Xtov <jvv£Tcl%£. 
Trig jutEVTOLje 'IcrToplag avTov dwa Tvyyavovai tojuoi, wg 
kol ai)Tog SKUvog tirayyzWETai * wv i)filv Tovg ttevte yiyo- 
v£v avayvwvai, TTEpd\ovTag (wg £<f>ri[A£v) curb Tr)g NsoTOpiov 
f5\a(T(j)rifjLiag jutXP 1 Tr)g tov alpzTiKOv Hztqov KaOaip£(r£wg. 
Bibl. Cod. xli. p. 9. edit. Bekker. In another place he 
says of him that he was, SvGaefirjg filv, KaXXi£7T£ia Se /cat 
tw r)c£t juletol Tr)g crafyrivdag /cat XafJLTrpoTrjTog K£\pri[Jiivog. 
Cod. Iv. p. 15. 

Note P. p. 44. 

1 AveyvdxrQri BatnXetov KiXucog 'E/c/cXrjctaartia? '\aTopia. 
ap^srai cltto Ti)g Tz\zvTr)g 'Sil/ulttXiklov tov 'Pw/irig' ........ 

Kai KCLTUGl flixP 1 TsXtVTrig ' AvCKFTCKJlOVi Og £LKO(Tl£TTTa £TTI 

feat firjvag Tpeig, tog ovTog tyr\<Ji) Iv tyj fiacriXeiq. GLiiptc£(T£v ' 
fj.£(P ov '\ovgt1vov tov Opot/ca avappr\9r\vai ypcKpu pcKTiXia. 
aXX' 17 jalv /3tj3Xo£ avTr\ IvTavOa ttov tyjv ypafyrjv 'Igtyiglv, 
cltto Zr)vwvog p.£XP l T ^ T£X£VTr)g ^ AvaaTaaiov /cat Tr)g 
'Iouartvov avappr\GtwQ /cartoucra. Xiyei &£ ovTOg wg £Lr\aav 
avT(£ /cat trepai Svo TT£Trovr}jLi£vai j3t|3Xot, irpwTri /cat TpLTrj ' wv 
tyjv julbv airb Mapiciavov tov {daaiXiwg apxecrBai, K.aTaXr)yuv 
$£ £wg Zr)vwvog, atpi* ov tyjv apxfjv r\ $£VT£pa £TT£TroiriTo 9 
tt)v §£ TpiTYiv ttolugQcll TTpooifiiov to TiXog Tr)g §£VT£pag 
/cat curb Tr)g fiaGiXdag 'Iouortvou aTTapxzaQai. "Eart §£ 6 
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ttigtiv (wg (J)7}(tlv) wv avTog ypatyu ' at /cat ttoXvgtlxov 
TTOiovai to |3tj3Xtov kcll Iv ttXt)Qu Xoywv bXiyr\v avvayayuv 
iGTOpiav ' $10 Kai to vatyeg Tr)g laTOpiag Ttjj 7rXf)9eL 7repi~ 



256 APPENDIX. 

KOWTETai Twv TrapEVTiOsfiivwv. Bibl. Cod. xlii. p. 9. Edit. 
Bekker. 

Note Q. p. 46. 

In the Procemium of his work printed by Valesius, he 
thus explains his plan : Qso^iXug bpov kol Aoytwrarot 
avcpsg, Aiyw ci) 0£oSwp?jroc 6 Trig baiag fj.vr)fj.rjg, yzvo- 
pevog iTTiGKOTrog Kvpou, teal 2to£oa£voc, /cat Sw/cparrjc, rwv 
kiriAOLTrujv \povtov ttoiovjuevoi wpayp.aTEiav, ovk afityu) rbv 

TOLOVTOV OjULlXov Oe/ULEVOI, a\X Idia EKClGTOg 0tXo(7O^)?7(TaC, 

icat tovq \6yovg avaypaipag. E7rd ovv rivd fjiav rwv Kara 
icatpovg 7rpa\0ivru)v } vtto Trig aicoXovSiag ljOov/ulevoi ekcite- 
poi aiTE^Ei\Qr\aav (ppacravreg, nva $1 IdiaZovreg, evXoyov 
tx)y)vr\v, to. KOivwg avrolg avfx^byvovfXEva &ia tov GCKpiarepov 
kol EiKppadeaTepov Siriyovfiivov rrj irapovarf j3t/3Xw jcara- 
Tac,m, Iv ry Trapoxpei 7rapa<jr\fiaLv6iizvog wg a/uKpo) GVfnrzfybi)- 
Vr)Ka(Tl * TCL &£ EKCLGTLj) tcoXlv i$iwg ekteOevto. irapcL&r\\il)Gto. 

Note R. p. 52. 

The preface fully explains the nature of the work : 
Ha3C historia Ecclesiastica, quae cunctis Christianis valde 
necessaria comprobatur, a tribus Grsecis auctoribus mira- 
biliter constat esse conscripta; uno scilicet Theodoreto, 
venerabili Episcopo, et duobus disertissimis viris, Sozo- 
meno et Socrate; quos nos per Epiphanium Scholasticum 
Latino condentes eloquio, necessarium duximus eorum 
dicta deflorata in unius stili tractum, Domino juvante, per- 
ducere, et de tribus auctoribus unam facere dictionem. 
Sciendum plane, quod prsedicti scriptores a temporibus 
divse memorise Principis Constantini usque ad augustse 
recordationis Theodosii junioris, quae sunt gesta, digesse- 
rint. Nos.autem eorum relictis operibus, et unumquemque 
cauta mente tractantes, cognovimus, non sequaliter omnes 



APPENDIX. 257 

de unaquaque re luculenter ac subtiliter explanasse : sed 
modo hunc, modo alterum aliam partem melius expediisse. 
Et ideo judicavimus de singulis doctoribus deflorata col- 
ligere, et cum auctoris sui nomine in ordinem collocare. 
Cassiodori Opera, torn. i. p. 203. Edit. Benedict. Roto- 
magi, 1679. 

Note S. p. 54. 

The procemium at once describes the nature of the work, 
and affords a specimen of the Latinity : Peregrinationis 
necessitatibus defatigatus, et aliquatenus feriatus animo a 
curis temporalibus, duarum hsereseon, hoc est, Nestoriano- 
rum et Eutychianorum, ex Ecclesiastica historia nuper de 
Grseco in Latinum translata, et ex gestis Synodalibus, 
vel Sanctorum Patrum epistolis, hoc Breviarium collegi, 
nectens temporum curriculo, ilia quae in Grseco Alexandriae 
scripto accepi, vel gravissimorum hominum didici narra- 
tione fideli. Quod faciens pro mea eruditione et respon- 
sione contra falsiloquos utrarumque partium sectatores, 
qui consueto studio aliter loquuntur de suis auctoribus, 
quam Veritas habet, libenter offero Catholicis fratribus, 
ignorantibus acta ipsarum hseresum, et legere volentibus 
p. 3. Edit. Gamier. 

Note T. p. 56. 

The following passage of Otto of Frisingen (a.d. 1146.) 
expresses, no doubt, the common opinion : Porro de 
duabus civitatibus, qualiter una in alia latendo usque ad 
adventum Christi, ac inde ad Constantinum paulatim pro- 
gressa profecerit, supra satis dictum puto. A Constantino 
vero exterioribus malis ad plenum sopitis, ccepit intestinis 
malis, instigante diabolo, auctore Arrio, cooperantibus 
rerum dominis Augustis, graviter angi, usque ad Theo- 
dosium seniorem. Ac deinceps, quia omnis non solum 

s 



258 APPENDIX. 

populus, sed et principes catholici fuerunt, exceptis paucis, 
videor mihi non de duabus civitatibus, sed pene de una 
tantum, quam ecclesiam dico, historiam texuisse. Non 
enim, quamvis electi et reprobi in una sint domo, has 
civitates, ut supra, dixerim duas, sed proprie unam, sed per- 
mixtam tanquam grana cum paleis. Unde in sequentibus 
libellis non solum Romanorum Augustis, sed et aliis nobi- 
lium regnorum regibus Christianis factis, cum in omnem 
terram, et in fines orbis terrse exierit sonus verbi Dei, 
tanquam sopita civitate mundi, et ad ultimum plene exter- 
minanda de civitate Christi, sed quamdiu peregrinatur, 
utpote sagena missa in mare, bonos et malos continente, 
coeptam historiam prosequamur. Manet tamen adhucper- 
fidia infidelium Judseorum et Gentilium civitas, sed regnis 
nobilioribus a nostris possessis, illis jam non solum ad 
Deum, sed et ad seculum ignobilioribus, vix aliqua ab eis 
gesta stylo digna, vel posteris commendanda inveniuntur. 
Ottonis Frisingensis Chron. Prolog, in librum quintum, 
p. 91. Edit. Basil. 1569. 

Note U. p. 59. 

Decedente, atque immo potius pereunte ab urbibus 
Gallicanis liberalium cultura litterarum, cum nonnullse res 
gererentur vel recte, vel improbe, ac feritas gentium 
desseviret, regum furor acueretur, ecclesise impugnarentur 
ab hsereticis, a Catholicis tegerentur : ferveret Christi 
fides in plurimis, refrigesceret in nonnullis, ipsa? quoque 
ecclesise vel ditarentur a devotis, vel nudarentura perfidis; 
nee reperiri possit quisquam peritus in arte dialectica gram- 
maticus, qui hsec aut stilo prosaico, aut metrico depingeret 
versu. Ingemiscebant ssepius plerique, dicentes: Vse 
diebus nostris, quia periit studium litterarum a nobis, nee 
reperitur.in populis, qui gesta prsesentia promulgare possit 
in paginis. Ista etenim atque his similia jugiter intuens 



APPENDIX. 259 

dici, pro commemoratione preeteritorum, ut notitiam attin- 
gerent venientium, etsi inculto affatu, nequivi tamen 
obtegere vel certamina flagitiosorum, vel vitam recte 
viventium. Et prsesertim his inlicitus stimulis, quod a 
nostris fari plerumque miratus sum, quia philosophantem 
rhetorem intelligunt pauci, loquentem rusticum multi ; 
libuit etiam animo, ut pro supputatione annorum ab ipso 
mundi principio libri primi poneretur initium : cujus capi- 
tula deorsum subjeci. Hist. Eccles. Fran cor um Prsefatio. 
Opera, Edit. Ruinart, p. 1. 

Note V. p. 65. 

Dindorf says in his preface to the new edition of Joannes 
Malalas (Bonnse, 1831) : De ipsius autem Malaise ingenio 
summaque et inscitia et, si cum scriptoribus paullo anti- 
quioribus conferatur, sermonis barbarie, qui ita sentiat ut 
indigna arbitretur homine Syro sseeuli sexti septimive cum 
vulgo loquenti, ipsam rem Byzantinam oportet ignoret. 
Prsefat. p. 6. 

Note W. p. 69. 

'E7T£ t Si rb riXog tov j3tou tovtov KaTzXafiz, kcu elg iripag 
ayayelv tov kavTOv kottov ovk ia^uaev, aXXa, tcauioQ irpo- 
l^rjjuev, jU£%pi AtojcArjrmvou avaypcopafxzvoq, tov ryoe piov 
KariXvcFZ, Kcti irpbg Kvpiov f^Ecr/jUijtrfv Iv dpuocoziiv tt'igtu, 
r)fjuv, wg yvrjGLOig QiXolq, tt)v re j3tj3Xov rjv <7vverac,e arsAi) 
KaTaXiXonrz, koX a^opfiaq Trapiayt to. zXXuttovtcl avcnrXri- 
pwaat. ityiEie $1 tyjv eavrwv a/maQeiav ovk ayvoovvTsg, kcu 

TO <TT£VOV TOV XoyOV, TT CI pTQT 01) [JlzQ CI TOVTO TTOLX)Gai, IOQ V7T£p 

r)fiag rrjv iyytipr\GLv ovactv. clvtoq $1 TrapaKaXiaag riuiag 
7roXXa fir) oicvrjcrcu, kcu arlXfcrrov KctTaXnruv to tpyov, Ipi- 
clgcito IttX tovto iXOelv. Stb avayKaaOivTtg $ia tyjv tovtov 
y7ra.Kor)v<, tig tcl vwhp r)fiaQ EyxEiprjaavTeg, kottov ov tov 
tv\ovtu Kar£j3aXojU£0a. iroXXaq yap |3<j3Xovc kcu r)uuq 

s 2 



260 APPENDIX. 

fK?rjrr/(ravr£c> kcu icara to Svvarbv r}juuv EpEwfoavTEg , to$e 
\povoypatyElov cltto AiokXyiticivov ^X9 L T ^£ fiaaiXeiag 
Mi"^arj\ kol Qeo(j)vXaKTOv rov vlov avTOV, Tag te fiaaiXdag 
Kal rovg 7rarpiap\ag 9 jcai rag rovruyv irpa&ug avv roig 
Xpovoig Kara to Svvarbv rjfjXv (TweypaipajLisOa, ovdlv a<f 
kavTuv <JWTa^,avT£g' aXXa Ik rwv ap\aiiov LGTOpioypatyuyv 
te, kol \oyoypa<pwv avaXe^ajUiEvoi, ev Tolg iSioig TOiroig 
TETa\afiEv ekclgtov y^povov Tag irpa^Eig aavy^yTwg /cara- 
TCLTTOvTEg' %a Ei$Evat z^umjiv olg avayiv&GKOVTeg ev iroity 
Xpovty ekclgtov (5a<Ji\Ewg iroia 7rpaZ,ig yiyovEv, rjre 7roXf- 

fUKrj, T\TE EKK\r)(Jia<JTlKr), 7]TE TToXlTlKri, 7]TE dr}fJLU)dr)g, T]TE Tig 

ETEpa. Theophanes in Prooemio Chronographiae, p. 2. 
Edit. Venet. 

Note X. p. 73. 

Sagittarius gives the following list of writers whose 
works illustrate the Ecclesiastical History of the times 
between Charlemagne and the end of the fifteenth century. 
The list is very far from complete : but I have thought 
it, upon the whole, better to adopt it, than to make a new 
selection. I have borrowed the dates, at which the several 
writers begin and end their principal works, from Ham- 
berger. 

Claruit. Incipit. Desinit. 

1 *874 Ado Viennensis . . . . ab Orbe condito 874 
908 Rhegino Prumiensis ... a Christo nato 906 
968 Liuthprandus Cremonensis .... 886 960 

1045 Glaber Radulphus 900 1044 

# 1 054 Hermannus Contractus . . . . ab O. C. 1054 
1077 Lambertus Schafnaburgensis . . ab O. C. 1077 

*1086 Marianus Scotus ab O. C. 1083 

*1112 Sigebertus Gemblacensis 381 1112 

1120 Hugo Floriacensis 418 1059 

1 The asterisk denotes the year of the writer's death. 



APPENDD 

Claruit. 


r 




261 

Incipit Desinit. 


*] 158 Otto Frisingensis ..... . ab O. C. 1156 


1186 Godefridus Viterbiensis 






. . ab O. C. 1 186 


*1240 Conradus Urspergensis 






. a Nino 1229 


1237 Godefridus Coloniensis 






. .1162 1237 


1260 Albertus Stadensis . . 






. ab O. C. 1256 


*1278 Martinus Polonus . . . 






ab Urbe C. 1278 


*1264 Vincentius Bellovacensis . 






. ab O. C. 1254 


1312 Ptolomseus Lucensis 






. . 1060 1303 


1307 Siffridus Misnensis . ' . 






. . 458 1306 


1301 Henricus Stero . . . 






. .1152 1265 


1361 Henricus Rebdorfiensis 






. . 1295 1363 


1378 Albertus Argentinensis . 






. .1270 1349 


1418 Gobelinus Persona . . 






.ab O. C. 1418 


# 14l8 Theodoricus Niemius . 






. . 1288 1418 


*1434 Theodoricus Engelhusius . 






. ab O. C. 1433 


# 1463 Blondus Flavius . . 






. . 400 1440 


*1459 Antoninus Florentinus 






. ab O. C. 1459 


1473 Auctor Rudimenti Novitiorum . 


. ab O. C. 1473 


1494 Wernerus Rolefinck . 






. ab O. C. 1484 



Note Y. p. 74. 

It is a curious fact, and highly illustrative of the treat- 
ment which the writers of the middle ages have received 
from modern critics, that the elegance of the work of Egin- 
hard induced some to suspect that the Latinity was improved 
by his first editor before it was printed. G. J. Vossius 
says, in his account of him : Exstat ejus liber de vita 
Karoli Magni, quern ea scripsit dictionis puritate atque 
elegantia, ut coaetaneos longe superet, planeque videri 
possit aliquot ante seculis vixisse. Quod imprimis dictum 
velim, si ita scripsit Eginhartus, uti nunc legitur. Sed 
etsi pro setate sua satis eleganter loquitur, (Suetonium sibi 
imitandum proposuisse, optime observatum est Casaubono,) 



262 APPENDIX. 

tamen nee prsetereundum est, primum Eginharti edi- 
torem Hermannum comitem Neuenarium, non institisse 
antiquo codici quern habebat : sed in eo fuisse, ut passim 
floridius loquentem induceret. Quod ejus institutum, 
nequid dissimulem, probare neutiquam possim. De His- 
toricis Latinis, lib. ii. cap. 33. p. 96. Opera, torn. iv. edit. 
1699. A further examination of MSS. showed that there 
was no ground whatever for this suspicion. See Sagittarii 
Introd. torn. i. p. 616. Bayle, Dictionnaire, torn. ii. p. 342. 
edit. 1740. 

Note Z. p. 76. 

In the Preface he represents it as having been under- 
taken in order to supply materials to a friend (John, a 
deacon of Rome,) who was engaged in writing a history 
of the Church: Ecclesiasticam (Charissime Frater, et 
digne Christi Levita Joannes), auctore Deo, scripturus 
historiam, exigis a me qusedam in Latinum stylum ex 
Grsecis voluminibus transferenda : quo et ipsa quoque 
proposito inseras operi, et intexas. His enim duabus 
Unguis prsecipue, quae in Ecclesia gesta sunt, enarrantur. 
Ego vero propriam inscitiam, et sermonis angustiam non 
ignorans, hoc agere tanto tempore merito recusavi ; supra 
me videlicet esse tam arduum conamen proculdubio 
ratus. Sed quoniam ipse te propositum opus melius ex- 
ecuturum fore asseveras, si ea, quae in Latinis codicibus 
inveniri non possunt, prius ex Grsecorum fonte haurienda 
percipias, faciam (Deo propitio) quod hortaris : prseser- 
tim cum Dei sit, quod agendum proponimus, et multis 
proculdubio causa profectus, atque salutis. Nee enim 
tibi tam charo tamque sapienti quicquam negare potero, 
qui profecto Apostoli documento imbutus, sapientibus et 
insipientibus debitor sum. Verum quia prsecipue neces- 
sarium arbitror ea, quae a Theodosio Principe juniore 



APPENDIX. 263 

in Ecclesia gesta sunt, enarrandi, ad cujus videlicet tempora 
Theodoritus, Socrates et Sozomenus Eusebium Pamphili 
subsequentes libros Ecclesiastics historic texuerunt: 
operaB pretium duxi ex Georgii summatim qusedam, et 
Theophanis Chronographia plura, sed succincte carpenda, 
quorum prior usque ad Diocletianum, posterior vero usque 
ad Leonem, qui post Michaelem imperavit, patrem scilicet 
Ignatii, qui adhuc superest habenas Constantinopolitanae 

ten ens EcclesiaB, prsedicti operis sui stylum protraxit 

Ex horum ergo ChronographiaB amcenissimo quaBdam 
decerpam horto, qua? amplissimse tui operis mensaB obediens 
obsecutor opponam, quae nimirum contemnere non debes, 
sed inter tua saltern secundum sensus virtutem sine fastidio 

collocare Huic sane operi ratum duxi Beati Nicephori 

Constantinopolitani Episcopi Chronographiam proponere, 
ut scilicet et ex ea possis aliquantula carpere, et sicubi 
fortassis hac utendum judicaveris, tuam non lateat onlnino 
notitiam. Obsecro autem charitatem tuam, quas omnia, 
secundum Apostolum, suffert, et non quaBrit quaB sua sunt: 
immo per me obsecrat universa Latinorum Ecclesia, ut sic 
scribendae a te inchoetur opus historic, ut quaB ab ipso 
Christi adventu in Ecclesia gesta sunt, et textu Ecclesias- 
tics historiaB non judicantur indigna, nullo modo praBter- 
mittas. Exceptis his forte quaB Eusebius, Theodoritus, 
Socrates et Sozomenus scripsisse noscuntur. Verum quia 
quosdam horum mentitos in quibusdam fuisse, et quaB- 
dam praBtermisisse probatur, quemadmodum et sanctus 
Papa Gregorius de Sozomeno apertissime scribit, obsecro 
mendacia horum veris approbationibus arguas, et quaB 
omiserunt nihilominus suppleas. pp. 1, 2. 

Note AA. p. 79. 

In his dedication to Liemar, Archbishop of Hamburg, 
he thus speaks of the sources from which he derived his 



m\> APPENDIX. 

information : Scio tamen aliquos, ut in novis rebus fieri 
consuetum est, adversarios mihi non defuturos, qui dicant 
haec ficta et falsa veluti Somnia Scipionis a Tullio meditata ; 
dicant etiam si volunt per eburneam portam Maronis 
egressa. Nobis propositum est non omnibus placere, sed 
tibi, pater, et Ecclesiae tuae. Difficillimum est enim invidis 
placere. Et quoniam sic semulorum cogit improbitas, 
fateor tibi quibus ex pratis defloravi hoc sertum, ne dicar 
specie veri captasse mendacium. Itaque de his quae scribo, 
aliqua per schedulas dispersa collegi, multa vero de historiis 
mutuavi, et privilegiis Romanorum [Pontificum], pleraque 
omnia seniorum quibus res nota est traditione didici, testem 
habens veritatem, nihil de meo corde propalari, nihil temere 
definiri ; sed omnia quae positurus sum certis roborabo tes- 
timoniis, ut si mihi non creditur, saltern auctoritati tribu- 
atur. In quo opere talibusque ausis sciant omnes, quod 
nee laudari cupio ut historicus, nee improbari metuo ut 
falsidicus. Sed quod bene ego non potui, melius scri- 
bendi caeteris materiam reliqui. Ap. Lindenborgii Scrip- 
tores Rerum German. Edit. Fabricii. Hamburgi, 1706. 

Note BB. p. 80. 

De rebus Ecclesiasticis, ut simplex Ecclesiae filius, sin- 
cere fari dispono, et priscas patres pro posse moduloque 
meo nisu sequens sedulo, modernos Christianorum eventus 
rimari, et propalare satago. Unde praesens Opusculum, 
Ecclesiasticam Historiam appellari affecto. Quamvis 
enim res Alexandrinas, seu Graecas vel Romanas, aliasque 
relatu dignas indagare nequeam, quia claustralis Ccenobita 
ex proprio voto cogor irrefragabiliter ferre Monachilem 
observantiam : ea tamen quae nostro tempore vidi, vel in 
vicinis regionibus accidisse comperi, elaboro coadjuvante 
Deo simplieiter et veraciter enucleare posterorum inda- 



APPENDIX. 265 

gini. Firmiter ex conjectura prseteritorum opinor, quod 
exurget quis me multo perspicacior, ac ad indagandos mul- 
timodarum, qua? per orbem fiunt, rerum eventus, potentior ; 
qui forsitan de meis, aliorumque mei similium schedulis 
hauriet, quod chronographige narrationique suae dignanter 
ad notitiam futurorura inseret. In Prolog, p. 321, 322. 

Note CC. p. 85. 

Cave, who implicitly follows Leo Allatius, gives a much 
more favourable opinion of the labours of Simeon Meta- 
phrastes than I have expressed in the text : Jubente 
Constantino Aug. vitas sanctorum ante sua tempora scriptas 
undique conquisivit; conquisitas recensuit: elegantiores 
tanquam lectorum conspectu dignas, calculo suo approba- 
vit, neque ulla in re mutatas divulgavit : minus elegantes 
vero partim nitidiori stylo vestitas, partim nova forma et 
methodo dispositas, in ordinem redegit ac digessit ; quas- 
dam etiam ex superiorum traditione acceptas proprio Marte 
ipse condidit. Hist. Lit. torn. ii. pp. 88, 89. But it is 
not easy to speak of him in more severe terms than those 
employed by the learned Romanist, Cotelerius. Speaking 
of the Life of St. Sabas, written by Cyril of Scythopolis, 
he says : Merebatur pro virtutibus suis ut minus a Si- 
meone Metaphraste contaminaretur. Poterat quidem, si 
ita videbatur, minus Grseca mutare, licet Graeco- Barbara 
non careant sua utilitate, nee desint auctores unde purior 
Grsecitas petatur. Sed cur (nihil dico de additionibus et 
mutationibus) quamplurima historica, magnique momenti, 
et scitu dignissima detraxerit, rationem et excusationem 
nequaquam video. Et tamen, ut solet fortuna deterioribus 
favere, Metaphrasteam Sabae vitam multi codices MSS. 
hujus urbis continent, Cyrillianam autem in unico nactus 
sum, Eccles. Greecse Monum. torn. iii. 574, B. 



266 APPENDIX. 

Note DD. p. 88. 

Redaudot speaks with great severity of the work of 
Selden : Qua? vero Joannes Seldenus in longa prsefatione 
ad librum, quern ipsi Origines Ecclesice Alexandrines appel- 
lare placuit, commentatus est, non tarn juvandis lectoribus, 
quam ostentandse eruditioni cumulata sunt, qua3 ut pluri- 
mum ad rem non pertinet. Quid enim, amabo, Abumasari, 
et aliorum doctorum Astronomorum mentio, quid omnia 
tandem valent, nisi ad confusionem historian Orientalis in 
qua infantissimus erat Seldenus ? ..... Quod vero 
Seldenus Eutychium tantis laudibus exornavit, non alia 
causa factum, quam ut particulam ejus histories quae Pres- 
byterorum autoritatem ad ordinandum Patriarcham spectare 
videbatur, majori fide commendaret. Hist. Patriarcharum 
Alexandrinorum, pp. 347, 348. He admits, however, to a 
certain extent, the value of the work of Eutychius : Habet 
sane Eutychius unde commendetur inter Orientales, apud 
quos historia generalis nulla extat, quse cum illius opere 
possit comparari. Unde non solum Christiani, sed Makri- 
zius et alii Muhamedani earn sequuntur, atque is ultimus 
earn ab utilitate sua laudandam existimavit, eamque de- 
scripsisse perpetuo deprehenditur. Mirum quippe est 
quanta sit Christianorum Orientalium in antiquis rebus 
inscitia. Cum enim dudum perierint Versiones Syriacee 
autorum Ecclesiastical historise, sed soli tituli apud eos 
conserventur, praster sacras Scripturas nihil habent ultra 
Josephum Gorionidem, cujus exemplaria neque Grsecis, 
neque Hebraicis. quorum nemo nescit quanta sit diversitas, 
neque inter se consentiunt. Nam plerique codices Arabici 
Josephi Gorionidis nomine, interpolatam Maccabaicorum 
librorum versionem repraesentant. Et tamen qualiscumque 
ilia Eutychii historia sit, praestat omnino aliis, ut ex hoc 
opere nostro satis manifestum est : unde Jacobitis celeber- 
8 



APPENDIX. 267 

rimis cura fuit, ut illam circa Concilium Calchedoneiise, et 
res Entychii et Dioscori refellerent. Ibid. p. 348. 

Note EE. p. 91. 

Hfialg ov% inrXwg, aXXa kol ttovco Srjra 7roAAq> ravri\v 
(JweXe^ajxeQa' rw fieyaXw veto rr\q rov Oeov Aoyou So^tae 
e%ETi veoi iKavtog wapeSpevovTeg ' koX sk Ttov irapa tclvtyiq 
VKOfxyrifxaruyv tcl 7r\uii) epavi^OjULevoi' ri yap av avTrj 
\apiaaifxwa, ttoXXwv koX fj.eyiaTd)v rifiiv SaifjiXtog fieTa^ovar) 
Xpr)GTk)v' kcli tov ye KtiXXovg avrr\g evTpvtyqv dveiarf koX 
ciaiTav be koX Karaywyriv ev avry iroXXig Tto /JLecrco ^povto 
cii)pr]aafiivy' toaavel koX juaLavaa/nivy, kol eg ToSe r)XiKiag 
rifiag kol \6yov wpoayayovtrri' rj to tcl avTrjg awavTa, 'Icrov 
o elirelv Kai tcl Trig KciQoXov eKKXriaiag, tog evov ye, apdrfv 
ctaAa/3av, kol Tolg fiovXofievoLg eg kolvi)v Trpodetvai 
dicpoacFLv; Eccles. Hist. Lib. I. cap. 1. pp. 37, 38. v 

Note FF. p. 92. 

Twv de Ka6e£,rig \p6vtov tclc lepdg irpd^etg a^pL $r) koX eg 
Sevpo, KCLLTrzp iroXXdg Kai fieyaXag ovaag koX ov\ Tjttov rj 
zicetvai, ovdevl irto Ttov ev laTOpelv elSoTwv elg vovv eyeveTO, 
[iiq nepLypaipri avvTa^eiog, eiceivag tz koX TavTag v<f ev 
irpayfiaTeixjaaOai' ovk olda ehe pqaTtjjvr) £77 tlvl TrapaXnrov- 
reg Trig tpvaeiog, e'tTe tern irpbg to fieyedog Tr)g vTroOeaeiog 
aTroKvr)<javTeg. Kai ye Sr) tlov \povtov Kai Ttov wpd^eojv Ik tov 
iraprjKovTog eppLfifievtov ev iroXXoXg /cat Statpopoig (rvyypa- 
(j)evai Ka\ TrpayfjiaTeiaig, ^vcr^eprig eadyav kol §vo\iyKTog r) 
fivrifir] rwv yey evr\iieviov KadiaTaTO, aXXr\g aXXa\ov cietnrap- 
f±evr\g afitoayeirtog rwv npa^eiov. rjfxelg tolvvv ttovw ttoXXi^ 
Ka\ xpovtt) Trjv l(f eKaaTw dtdOeaiv e^STaaavTeg, oav ior]Orifiev 
VTroOeoLV filav iaTopiKi)v Trig KaOoXov eKKXrjaiag v<f oSriyovvTi 
0£(jJ wpay/uLaTevaacrdaL ' ko.\ -nrptoTa /nlv rd twv Trpb r)iitov, 



268 APPENDIX. 

Idia we y Ivov (j>pda>ti kol (ruvrsrjurjjUEvr?, Trupdaofxai <5teX0av* 

TO T£ TTZQLTTOV KCLl Tty ^jOOVtjJ U.KCUOV TYf VTTodtCFU So^ClV, 

wapaXnrEiv' to & avajKaiov Trig Ivvoiag kcltcl \wpav fiivsiv 
taarai' icai to. tvSsovTa 7rpO(TETri9eevai rote IksIvwv avyypap,- 
juLaaiv' ocra O'Iekcigtoq dvayKcua, twv aXXtov TrapaXnrovTwv, 
IcTTopriae, r^ avyy pdjUfxaTi l%v(^r)vai. Lib. I. cap. 1. p. 36. C. 

Note FF*. p. 94. 

Huic Libro titulum convenientem judicavi dari Eccle- 
siasticam videlicet Historiam novam,<\x\\a, secundum formam 
Eusebii Csesariensis Episcopi est tradita, vel de Illustrious 
Viris patuit dici. Sed primus magis conveniens, quia ma- 
teria Codicis omnes viros, quasi Ecclesiasticos comprehendit 
a Domino nostro Jesu Christo usque ad tempora ista. . . 
Ut vero fides prsebeatur Auctori, quicquid quasi in hoc 
libro traditur prseter declarations scriptorum, totum per 
authenticos viros probatur, quos nos hie introducimus, vide- 
licet Eusebium Csesariensem Episcopum, Damasum Papam, 
Hieronymum Doctorem prseclarum, Beatum Augustinum 
de Civitate Dei, et Josephum in libro de antiquitatibus 
Judseorum, . Isidorum in suis historiis, et de Illustrious 
Viris, Gennadium de eisdem, et persaepe capitula Decre- 
torum, more Theologico solito allegata, ut intelligant qui 
legunt, quia ipsa introducimus solum ad Historias verifi- 
candas et declarandas, non ad causas sive qusestiones defi- 
niendas, quae majorem in allegando subtilitatem requirunt. 
Sunt etiam et alii Auctores Historise hie introducti, ut est 
Orosius in libro contra Paganos, Paulus Diaconus Cardi- 
nalis et Suppletor Historiarum Eutropii, alius Paulus in 
Historia Langobardorum et ipse origine Lombardus, Ad- 
monius Monachus in gestis Francorum, Eginardus Philo- 
sophus in gestis Caroli Magni et filii sui Ludovici, Frater 
Vincentius Beluacensis, Frater Martinus Polonus Ordinis 



APPENDIX. 269 

Fratrum Prsedicatorum ; Archiepiscopus Cusentinus ; Si- 
cardus Episcopus Cremonensis ; Ricardus Monachus Clu- 
niacensis, gesta Thuscorum, Longobardorum et Germano- 
rum, ac Gotifredus Viterbiensis cancellarius Frederici 
Primi. Porro quia opus est satis diffusum, ad promtiorem 
ipsius habendam notitiam, oportet ipsum per Libros dis- 
tinguere, qui sunt xxiv. et per capitula et libros secundum 
ipsius diversas materias et mutationes status Ecclesise. Sed 
et numerum Pontificum ad confusionem vitandam propter 
multitudinem opportunum est assignare. Epist. Dedicat. 
pp. 751,752. 

Note GG. p. 97. 

Scio jamdudum expectare aures hominum, quodnam 
Pontificibus Romanis crimen impingam : profecto ingens, 
sive supinse ignorantise, sive immanis avaritiae, quse est 
Idolorum servitus : sive imperandi vanitatis, cujus «rude- 
litas semper est comes. Nam aliquot jam seculis aut non 
intellexerunt donationem Constantini commentitiam fic- 
tamque esse, aut ipsi finxerunt : sive posteriores in majorum 
suorum dolis vestigia imprimentes pro vera, quam falsam 
cognoscerent, defenderunt; dedecorantes Pontificatus 
majestatem, dedecorantes veterum Pontificum memoriam, 
dedecorantes religionem Christianam, et omnia csedibus, 
minis flagitiisque miscentes. Suam esse aiunt urbem 
Romam, suum regnum Sicilise, Neapolitanumque ; suam 
universam Italiam, Gallias, Hispanias, Germanos, Britan- 
nos; suum denique Occidentem. Hsec enim cuncta in 
ipsa donationis pagina contineri. Ergo hsec omnia tua 
sunt, sum me Pontifex ? Omnia tibi in animo est recupe- 
rare ? Omnes reges ac principes Occidentis spoliare ur- 
bibus, aut cogere ut annua tibi tributa pensitent, sententia 
est? At ego contra existimo, justius licere principibus 
spoliare te imperio omni quod obtines. Nam ut ostendam, 



270 APPENDIX. 

donatio ilia, unde natum esse suum jus summi Pontifiees 
volunt, Silvestro pariter et Constantino fuit incognita. 
Verum antequam ad confutandam donationis paginam ve- 
nio, quod unum istorum patrocinium est, non modo falsum, 
verum etiam stolidum ; ordo postulat, ut altius repetam. 
Et primum dicam, non tales fuisse Constantinum Silves- 
trumque ; ilium quidem qui donare vellet, qui jure donare 
posset, qui, ut in manum alteri ea traderet, in sua haberet 
potestate : hunc autem, qui vellet accipere, quique jure 
accepturus foret. Secundo loco ; si haec non essent, quae 
verissima atque clarissima sunt, neque hunc acceptasse, 
neque ilium tradidisse possessionem rerum, quae dicuntur 
donatae, sed eas semper in arbitrio et imperio Caesarum 
permansisse. Tertio, nihil datum Silvestro a Constantino, 
sed priori Pontifici, ante quern et baptismum acceperat; 
donaque ilia mediocria fuisse, quibus Papa degere vitam 
posset. Quarto, falso dici, donationis exemplum aut apud 
decreta reperiri, aut ex historia Silvestri esse sumptum ; 
quod neque in ilia, neque in ulla historia invenitur. In eo 
quaedam contraria, impossibilia, stulta, barbara, ridicula 
contineri. Praeterea loquar de quorundam aliorum Caesarum 
vel simulata, vel frivola donatione. Ubi ex abundanti 
adjiciam, si Silvester possedisset, tamen sive illo, sive 
quo vis alio Pontifice a possessione dejecto, post tan tarn 
temporis intercapedinem, nee divino, nee humano jure 
posse repeti. Postremo, ea quae a summo Pontifice te- 
nentur, nullius temporis longitudine posse praescribi. My 
copy of Valla's work is of the edition published by Ulric 
von Hutten, in 1517. 

Note HH. p. 99. 

In a letter prefixed to his " Annales Hirsaugienses " he 
thus describes his labour in composing that work : Men- 



APPENDIX. 271 

sibus quinquaginta quatuor continue in hoc opere desudavi 
adeo constanter atque tenaciter, ut ne tempus quidem re- 
focillationi corporis mei necessarium, et a Regula permis- 
sum, liberum habere ab hac editione potuerim. Continue 
semper et sine intermissione, die ac nocte, vigilans et dor- 
miens, aut mente aut corpore Hirsaugianis occupatus fui 
Annalibus. Etenim vigilans diem comportando, discer- 
nendo, ordinando ac scribendo totum in laboribus consum- 
mavi : noctem dormiens interruptam earum occupationum 
imagines nimium sustinui molestas et importunas, quarum 
archetypo dietenus fueram occupatus. Labor is magnus 
et sine utilitate molestissimus plus me lsesit nocturnse fu- 
liginis umbra somniantem, quam omnis labor diuturnus 
scribentem. Annal. Hirsaug. p. 5. ed. 1690. 

Note II. p. 100. 

Debemus hoc Christianismo, qui solus nostris provinciis 
(ut cseteris), omnem, qua fruimur, civilitatem invexit, ut 
seposita commemoratione, sacrse religionis rationem habea- 
mus : ostendentes, per quos viros, quoque tempore, munus 
hoc seternitatis pervenerit eis, quas commemorando percur- 
rimus, nationibus ; ut reddatur Sanctis pontificibus suis 
honor, qui hoc suis temporibus et omni posteritati prsesti- 
terunt, ut veram et sanctissimam Christi religion em am- 
plecterentur. Quibus perinde magis sumus obnoxii, quod 
aeternse salutis nobis vias aperuerunt, vestigiaque signa- 
runt, quibus innitentes aberrare non possumus. Prsefat. p. 1 . 

Note JJ. p. 101. 

Si ergo reformatio debeat esse regularis et ordinaria, 
oportet ante omnia, quod noster Papa et sua Romana Cu- 
ria primo et principaliter reformetur, propter multos ex- 



272 APPENDIX. 

cessus multasque exorbitantias, quae per eum et suos Car- 
dinales ; per illam execrabilem et maledictam simoniam 
quotidie committuntur in vendendo ecclesiastica beneficia, 
quemadmodum porci et vaccse in foro publico vendi con- 
sueverunt; cum res Ecclesiae non sunt ejus, ut dictum est, 
sed ut dispensatoris. Per quam turpissimam venditionem 
aurum et argentum in fornace conflat et in suis marsupiis 
includere festinat non timens, quod tanto gravius in hujus- 
modi peccat, quanto in altiori gradu consistit. Gravamina 
Nationis Germanicse adversus Curiam Romanam, ap. 
Walchii Monimenta Medii JEvi, vol. i. Fascicul. I. pp. 
105, 106. This piece is assigned by Walch to the year 
1450. It is nothing more than a fair specimen of the light 
in which the court of Rome was regarded from the time of 
the great schism to the Reformation. 

Note KK. p. 101. 

Ulric Von Hutten, probably before he heard the name 
of Luther, thus writes in his dedication of his edition of 
Valla's Declamation to Leo X. : In illos vere detestandi 
sceleris commentores Pontifices, omnia acerbissima dicta, 
omniaque ferocissima facta conveniunt. Quidni ? In 
depecuiatores, in fures, in tyrannos, in latrones. Quis 
violentior enim latro est, quam qui ita rapit, ut rapiendi 
modum nullum statuat ? Hi fuerunt qui in minimo arrepta 
occasione, ad immensum progressi sunt diripiendi licentia. 
Qui gratias venum exposuerunt : qui condonationes, qui 
dispensationes, et infiniti generis bullas qui vendiderunt 
tanto jam tempore. Qui in peccatorum remissione pretium 
statuerunt, et in pcenis inferorum invenerunt sibi lucrum. 
Qui sacerdotia hie, eleemosynam parentum nostrorum passi 
sunt ab se mercari. Qui Germanis persuaserunt episcopos 
non esse, qui ab se pallia non emerint, multis aureorum 



APPENDIX. 273 

milibus. Qui contenti non sunt exigere extra ordinem 
quotannis semel, sed mittebant quoties in mentem venisset, 
qui colligerent aliis alii de causis : nonnulli quasi bellum 
apparaturi contra Turcas : alii ut templum, quod perfici 
non curant, Romse Divo Petro extruant. Qui cum lisec 
omnia facerent, tamen salutari se vulgo beatissimos et sanc- 
tissimos volebant: nee aliquid in suos mores dici patiebantur, 
nedum fieri. Si quis vero libertatis meminisset, aut si quis 
rapientibus impedimentum, aut moram si quis omnino ob- 
jecisset, in ejus sseviebant animam, perdentes actutum. 

Note LL. p. 106. 

Quare falsissimum est papistarum sophisma, qui nobis 
nostrseque religioni odiosam novitatis notam, sibique vetus- 
tatis decus attribuere violenter conantur : quandoquidem 
et primitiva Ecclesia ferme 300 a Christo annis, penitus 
nobiscum sentiens, a Papatus erroribus, abusibus et tyran- 
nic! e penitus aliena fuerit. Et in ea quae postea sequuta 
est, cum jam semina istarum abominationum pullulare in- 
ciperent, plerique ac prsecipui doctores eisdem restiterint : 
et denique regnante jam ac florente Antichristo Romano, 
cum suis desolationum abominationibus, nihilominus semper 
aliqui, iique non pauci doctores et auditores ubique ferme 
terrarum, eisdem non tantum genua incurvarenoluerint,sed 
etiam serio ac constanter voce, scriptis, et denique san- 
guine ac martyrio suo repugnarint, ab eisque se, totamque 
Dei Ecclesiam liberari toto pectore optaverint, ac ex imis 
praecordiis gemuerint. Catal. Testium, Prsefat. 

Note MM. p. 111. 

Est autem ipse processus, ut sic dicamus, tractationis in 
ista quatuor quasi operas distributus. Primum alimus 
certis stipendiis jam septem studiosos, doctrina et judicio 

T 



274 APPENDIX. 

mediocri praeditos, qui autores sibi propositos evolvunt 
summa attentione et fide, ac juxta Methodi metas solicite 
et curiose singula excerpunt, et quasi Anatomian autorum 
faciunt, suoque loco quaelibet adscribunt, idque faciunt 
semper unum seculum post aliud in manus accipientes. 

Deinde alimus duos Magistros, aetate, doctrina et rec- 
titudine judicii praestantes, quibus quod priores sedulae ac 
industriae apiculae ex variis locis ac floribus convexerunt, 
traditur, ut rerum eongestarum dijudicationem faciant, de- 
lineant ac disponant, quae in scriptionem venire debent, ac 
denique pertractent et connectant narratione Historica. 

Tertio constituti sunt ex gubernatorum numero quidam 
inspectores, qui collectoribus materias distribuunt, et ea 
quae sunt delineata, examinant, et rerum judicium atque 
partium collocationem adjuvant. (Nihil enim scribitur, nisi 
prius liac ratione dijudicatum sit.) Scripta deinde rursus 
sub limam vocant, ac denique etiam quaedam, pro neces- 
sitate ipsi contexunt ac scribunt. 

Quarto alimus Amanuensem ut vocant, qui sic composita 
melius describit. 

Ultra hosce, sunt communes totius operis gubernatores 
et inspectores optimae fidei homines quinque, qui consiliis 
praesunt, et idoneas personas accersunt, non idoneas dimit- 
tunt, habent sumptuum rationem. Unus autem ex istis, si 
quid contribuitur, custodit, et habet libellos acceptorum et 
expensorum. 

JVbfeNN. p. 113. 

The Centuriators were quite aware of the merits of their 
work. The following passages, one of which is on the 
title, and the other on the next page, do not exactly 
accord with the modesty which a more fastidious age ex- 
pects in authors : Typographus Lectori. Hoc opere nul- 



APPENDIX. 275 

lum aliud ab orbe condito, ejusdem quidem argument!, 
Reipub. Christiana? et utilius et magis necessarium, in 
lucem esse editum, sequus atque sinceri judicii Lector, 
vel ex Prsefatione, qua etiam contexendi hujus causae ex- 
ponuntur, adjectaque in primis historici operis Methodo 
ac singulorum capitum metis generalibus, facile depre- 

hendet. Lectori S. Passim hoc seculo plurimi 

fuci proveniunt, qui alienos labores sine fronte rapiunt, 
suosque faciunt. Id ne nobis quoque accidat, significandum 
duximus, nos ipsos qui hoc opus historicum jam in lucem 
damus, in hoc esse, ut in Germanicam transfundatur lin- 
guam : et in eo negocio quotidie progredimur. Rogamus 
igitur omnes amanter, ne nobis quse nostra sunt abalie- 
nentur. Novit enim unusquisque prseceptum Dei, non 
furtum facias. Vale. 

Note OO. p. 117. 

Habent autem interea Centuriatores, quod nee ferre 
debemus, nee ullo modo possumus excusare. Est autem 
illud, quod correpti illo morbo, de quo nunc egimus, Epi- 
demio, suis partibus, animis, et affectibus, majorem in mo- 
dum per Centurias illas omnes et singulas, indulgeant : 
quod non ut rerum gestarum narratores, sed tanquam ad- 
versarii, vel constituti in causa advocati, laudare, vitupe- 
rare, pugnare, oppugnare, lacerare, lancinare, rodere, 
soleant, vel ultra meritum et metas commendare interdum, 
prout ipsis placuerint, aut e rebus suis fuerint, vel etiam 
displicuerint res enarrandse. Ita se gerunt, tanquam Pa- 
troni processissent, vel Accusatores, potius quam Testes 
producti, vel obsignatores, qui de mera et sola respondeant 
veritate : qui de Facto inquirant, et testentur, non de con- 
silio, proposito, voluntate. Certum est Historiam rite 
institutam et ordinatam, ulterius non progredi quam ut 

T2 



276 APPENDIX. 

doceatpraesentiaacprseterita; nihil addat de suo; demat 
nihil ; mutando, movendo, molliendo, aggravando, res quas- 
cunque gestas, non transformed non delumbet, non addendo 

excolat, ullo modo Peccant hie graviter, fatendum 

est, Centuriatores, sugillant Ecclesiam : objurgant Patres : 
Doctrinam aliquoties, Disciplinam ssepissime vel receptis- 
simam ariyjuaTiZovcn, eo quod non consentiant cum ipsorum 
placitis, quae, per errorem opinionis perversa?, sibi prius 
ipsis, absque Dei verbo, tanquam Dei consultum, confinx- 
erant. Itaque non suas opiniones, quod par et aequum 
fuerat, ad normam exigunt revelati verbi, perpetua Tra- 
ditione Ecclesise intellecti ; sed verbum ipsum Dei, formu- 
lara et prsescriptionem Credendorum, ad suas conceptas 
traducunt opiniones. Apparat. ad Origines Ecclesiasticas, 
Prsefat. § 50—53. 

Note PP. p. 118. 

He says, in his preface, — Si ceux qui ont principalement 
travaille en ceste suite et ordre continuel de l'Histoire 
Ecclesiastique, vienent a se plaindre que je n'ay pas en 
tout et partout suivi l'ordre qu' ils ont tenu, et qu'en 
quelques endroits j'ay parle autrement de la doctrine qu'ils 
n'ont pas fait: en premier lieu je respon qu'avant qu'ils 
eussent mis leur labeur en lumiere, j'avoye delibere de 
recueillir de Eusebe, de l'Histoire Tripartite, et des autres 
Auteurs Ecclesiastiques, ce que j'eusse peu : et maintenant 
ayant leur livre en main je neme suis point voulu assujettir 
a une traduction simple, ains extraire ce que m'a semble 
bon ou plus utile : et si j'ay trouve des histoires qui n'ont 
point si grand poids qu'on ne les puisse rejetter entre les 
fables, et sur lesquelles les Papistes ont basti des super- 
stitions lourdes et pernicieuses, il m'a semble aussi qu'il ne 
les faloit laisser passer sans avertissement. Elles meritoyent 



APPENDIX. 277 

bien d'estre du tout omises: mais pour ce que aucunes 
sont recitees par gens renommez entre les fideles, les autres 
ont este des long temps et communement receues comme 
oracles infallibles, le plus expedient a este, selon mon avis, 
de ne les oublier point, et aussi de ne taire l'abus qui y 
estoit. Touchant la doctrine, j'eusse bien desire qu'ils se 
fussent assujettis a la simplicite de la verite du Fils de Dieu, 
et qu'ils ne se fussent lasche la bride a semer par ci par 
la leurs opinions particulieres, sous ombre de la lecture 
d'une histoire, laquelle est friande et attrayante : et aiors 
j'eusse volontiers suyvi et le mesme ordre qu'ils ont term, 
et la mesme doctrine qu'ils eussent proposee. Cependant 
je n'ay du tout rejette leur labeur, ains confesse franche- 
ment qu'ils m'ont releve de grand' peine : car il m'eust 
falu aler chercher en plusieurs autheurs ce qu'ils ont 
amasse en un volume, et par bonne methode, selon mon 
jugement. Je les repute en cela dignes de louange': et a, 
miene volonte qu'ils se fussent contenus en bonne simplicite 
quant a quelques certain poincts de la doctrine de salut, 
laquelle doit estre traittee en toute purete et humilite. 
Preface. 

Note QQ. p. 126. 

II seroit a souhaiter que Baronius se fut contente de rap- 
porter les faits de PHistoire Ecclesiastique, sans entrer dans 
des controverses et dans des interets particuliers. Cependant 
il faut avoiier que son Ouvrage est d'une tres-grande eten- 
diie, bien digere, plein de grandes recherches, compose 
avec soin, et avec autant d'exactitude qu'on peut esperer 
d'un homme qui entreprend le premier un Ouvrage aussi 
vaste et aussi difficile que celui-la. II est vrai que Ton y a 
remarque depuis plusieurs fautes de Chronologie et d'His- 



278 APPENDIX. 

toire ; que Pon a decouvert plusieurs faits dont il n'a point 
eu de connoissance ; qu'il s'est servi de plusieurs Monu- 
mens supposes ou douteux; qu'il a rapporte quantite de 
faits faux comme veritables ; et qu'il s'est trompe en plu- 
sieurs endroits. Mais quoique sans vouloir exagerer le 
nombre de ses fautes avec Luc Holstenius, qui disoit qu'il 
etoit pret de montrer huit mille faussetez dans les An- 
nales de Baronius, on ne puisse nier qu'il n'y en est beau- 
coup : II faut neanmoins avoiier que son Ouvrage est tres- 
bon et tres-utile, et que c'est avec raison qu'il est appelle 
le Pere des Annales Ecclesiastiques. II faut encore re- 
marquer qu'il a ete beaucoup plus exact dans PHistoire des 
Latins que dans PHistoire des Grecs, parcequ'il avoit une 
connoissance fort mediocre du Grec, et qu'il etoit oblige 
de se servir du secours de Pierre Morin, de Metius et du 
Pere Sirmond pour les Monumens qui n'etoient point 
traduits en Latin. Son style n'a ni la purete ni P elegance 
qui seroient a souhaiter dans un Ouvrage de cette nature, 
et Ton peut dire qu'il ecrit plutot en Dissertateur qu'en 
Historien ; il n'est neanmoins clair, intelligible et method- 
ique. Du Pin, Nouvelle Bibliotheque, Tome xvii. p. 2, 3. 
Die Protestanten selbsterkennen, dasssie dieses Werks nicht 
entbehren kbnnen. Mit einem ungemeinen Fleisse hat 
darinne Baronius zuerst fast vollstandige und zusammen- 
hangende Jahrbiicher der ganzen christlichen Geschichte 
in ihren ersten zwblfhundert Jahren gesammlet. Er hat 
aus dem pabstlichen Archiv eine grosse Menge Urkunden 
hervor gezogen, welcheein neues Licht uber die Geschichte 
ausgebreitet haben. Und es ist nicht bloss die Kirchen- 
historie, sondern jede andere Art der Geschichte, zu welcher 
in seinem Werke ein trefflicher Vorrath verborgen liegt. 
Schrbckh, Kirchengeschichte, Th. 1. S. 229, 230. 



APPENDIX. 279 

Note RR. p. 129. 

In the epistle dedicatory to the Duke of Wirtemberg, 
prefixed to the first volume, Osiander thus explains the 
motives which led him to undertake the work: Multa 
laude digni sunt viri doctissimi, qui infinito prope labore, 
ex omnibus, quos habere potuerunt, Scriptoribus Eccle- 
siasticis Historiam congesserunt (quam Magdeburgicam 
vocamus), eamque in certas Centurias annorum distribue- 
runt. . . . Cum autem utilissimus iste labor multis 
Tomis comprehendatur : et plerunque Theologise stu- 
diosi magnitudine sumtuum ab emptione deterreantur : 
multi vero, et quidem magni politici, magnitudine nego- 
ciorum gravissimorum impediantur, quo minus tarn prolixa 
scripta evolvere queant ; cum tamen Theologicis lucubra- 
tionibus legendis vehementer delectentur ; ccepi ego cogi- 
tare, an non ea, qua3 copiose in ilia Magd. Hist. Eccles. (et 
plurimis interdum locis) referuntur, possent in Epitomen 
quandam ita redigi, ut nihil rerum scitu admodum neces- 
sarium omitteretur : et simul etiam singulorum annorum 
series observaretur., . . Plurimum igitur adj utus Mag- 
deburgicis illis Centuriis (sine quibus laborem hunc nequa- 
quam aggredi ausus fuissem) collegi trium priorum Cen- 
turiarum quasi compendium quoddam : quod nunc in lucem 
dare volui, ne eos, qui dudum editionem a me efflagitarunt, 
diutius suspensos tenerem. 

. Note SS. p. 137. 

Toutefois le desir de profiter a mes Freres, et le juge- 
ment de quelques Personnes egalement habiles et pieuses, 
m'ont fait surmonter toutes ces difficultez, et m'exposer a 
la censure des ignorans, et des Doctes, en un temps ou ne 
gardant plus de mesure pour personne, elle n'est pas moins 
injuste que furieuse. Comme je n'ay pas ecrit pour les 



280 APPENDIX. 



Scavans (ce que je veux bien repeter encore une fois) j'ay 
retranche toutes les Controverses, soit pour les temps, soit 
pour les faits, soit pour la doctrine, afin de n'interrompre 
point le lil de ma Narration, et de proposer les choses dans 
une suite claire et facile, qui les imprimast dans la memoire 
des Lecteurs. 



Note TT. p. 141. 

Sacra Bibliotheca Sanctorum Patrum supra ducentos, 
qua continentur, illorum de rebus Divinis opera omnia et 
fragmenta, quae partim nunquam hactenus, partim ita ut 
raro jam extarent, excussa : vel ab Hsereticis corrupta : 
nunc primum Sacrse Facultatis Theologise Parisiensis 
censura satis gravi, sine ullo novitatis aut erroris fuco in 
perfectissimum corpus coaluerunt. Distincta in Tomos 
octo: Epistolarum, Historiarum, Moralium, Liturgiarum, 
Disputationum contra Hsereses, Commentariorum, Homi- 
liarum, Poematumque sacrorum mixtim et Tractatuum in 
pene singula et fidei Christiana?, et Scripturse sacrse loca : 
illustrata, Virorum doctissimorum Scholiis, Observa- 
tionibus, accurate annotatis ad marginem Scripturse Lec- 
tionibus, vitis Authorum, cum eorum catalogo Alpha- 
betario, et Chronologia : Biblicarum quoque Authoritatum, 
et Materiarum locupletissimis Indicibus : Per Margarinum 
de la Bigne, Theologum Doct. Parisiensem. Parisiis, 1575. 
Folio. This is the title of the first edition, a rare book, 
which I am happy enough to possess. It was designed to 
rival the collections which had been published under the 
auspices of Protestant editors at Basil, some years earlier. 
The second edition, in which a new arrangement was 
adopted, (substantially the same as was ever after ob- 
served in the Paris editions,) appeared in nine volumes 
in 1589. Both of them grievously incurred the displea- 



APPENDIX. 281 

sure of Rome ; and the second in particular, though poor 
De la Eigne did all he could by adulation and servility to 
propitiate the zealots, is the very prey of the Roman and 
Spanish Indices. (Ittigius de Bibl. PP. pp. 82—91. Mend- 
ham's Literary Policy of the Church of Rome, pp. 116 — 
128.) Nevertheless a third edition (castigated, however, 
in conformity with the directions of the famous Brasichel- 
lensis) appeared in 1609; a fourth in 1624; and two 
more, both in seventeen volumes, respectively in 1644 
and 1654. The Cologne edition of 1618 was a sort of 
opposition to those of Paris, and was free from the liberality 
and honesty which made De la Bigne's collection so ob- 
noxious to the violent Romanists. The subsequent editions 
(or rather subsequent collections with the same title, for 
the plan of De la Bigne was henceforth discarded, and the 
chronological arrangement employed by the Cologne 
editors adopted,) belong to a period later than that referred 
to in the text. That of Lyons (Maxima Bibliotheca 
Veterum Patrum) appeared in 1677; and that of Venice 
(Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum, opera et studio Andr. 
Gallandii,) was commenced in 1765, and discontinued 
with the fourteenth volume in 1788. It does not go beyond 
the twelfth century. 

Note UU. p. 142. 

The proposal to continue this great work is made in a 
pamphlet of sixty pages, intituled, " De Prosecutione 
Operis Bollandiani quod Acta Sanctorum inscribitur," 
which was published in April last, and is subscribed by 
four Belgian Jesuits, (Joannes- Bap tista Boone, Josephus 
Vandermoere, Prosper Coppens, Josephus Van Hecke). 
They give an account of the causes which have hitherto 
prevented an attempt to resume the undertaking ; and 
profess their determination to continue it upon the prin- 



282 APPENDIX. 

ciples of their predecessors. Nihil porro est, quod de 
materia texturaque operis hagiographici disseramus ; non 
enim novum vel ignotum edimus, sed continuamus, quan- 
tum per vires et industriam licuerit, quod a decessori- 
bus nostris inceptum et promotum fuit. They request 
assistance from all who feel interested in their labours. 
Quare omnes, quibus sacra antiquitas, solida eruditio et 
religio cordi est, in subsidium et consortium operis voca- 
mus, rogamusque ut si quae prse manibus habent, quibus 
Sanctorum cultus fulciatur aut illustretur, ea nobis com- 
modanda saltern non denegent. Prsesertim communicari 
nobiscum optamus speciales Sanctorum vitas, martyrologia 
peculiaria, halendaria et codices lithurgicos, breviaria aut 
officia propria etiam antiquata ; speciales locorum historias, 
descriptions provinciarum, dicecesium, urbium et coznobiorum ; 
translationum reliquiarum et insigniorum miracidorum in- 
strumental quantum fieri potest, authentica ; libros aut 
libellos, qui enarrent quomodo monasteria, templa, altaria, 
pia sodalitia nomine Sanctorum decor ata fuerint ; quidquid 
denique servorum Dei sanctitatem demonstret atque confirmet. 
Hujusmodi documentis hagiographia coalescit, et vel fabu- 
losa nonnumquam indigitant veritatem, a qua deriventur. 
Nihil igitur est quod repudiatum velimus, cum sit fere 
nihil quod utile esse non possit ad veritatem historicam 
adstruendam. They add a list of the saints who are to be 
noticed in the continuation of the work. 

Note VV. p. 148. 

In the preface to the first edition, lie thus describes 
his plan for the history of each century : Primo syn- 
opsim Ecclesiastics illius saeculi historise certa redac- 
tam ad capita exhibeo. Hac in synopsi, persecutionum, 
quibus Ecclesia jactata est, narrationem : Pontificum, 
qui ipsam rexerant, seriem ac gesta ; hsereseon, quibus 



APPENDIX. 283 

ejus fides impugnata et violata fuit, ortum, incrementa, 
errores: Conciliorum, quibus vel hsereses damnatae, vel 
sancita disciplina est, historiam et decreta : Authorum 
sacrorum, qui lucubrationibus Ecclesiam suis protexerunt 
et illustrarunt, indicem, et operum, quae eorum nominibus 
inscribuntur, criticum examen ; Principum denique, a qui- 
bus per illud tempus administrata est Respublica, praecipua 
facinora, totiusque adeo ssecularis historiae summam con- 
spicies. Secundo exquisitas in historiam illius saeculi 
Dissertationes subjicio : quarum aliae proprie facta historica, 
paucse Chronologiam, nonnullae disciplinam ac mores Ec- 
clesiae, Criticam sacram aliquae, plurimae Concilia, cum 
frequentia occurrunt; quarto nimirum, sequent] busque 
saeculis; alise denique spectant dogmata cum haereticis 
veteribus aut novis controversa. Enimvero cum mihi non 
videatur satis hsereseon monstra prodidisse, nisi et arma, 
quibus confodiantur, subministrem ; Panopliam adjungo 
ad versus illius sseculi haereses, cujus historiam descripsi ; 
et palmares ipsarum errores argumentis ex Scriptura 
Sacra et Traditione depromptis impugno, maximeque ex 
eorum doctrina Patrum, qui adversus ipsas data opera 
scripserunt. HaBC summa rerum a me in eo, quod suscepi, 
opere tractandarum ; hie earum in tractatione servandus 
ordo. 

Note VV*. p. 155. 

Since the account of Fleury inserted in the text, was in 
the hands of the printer, I have met with a new edition of 
his work, from the title of which it appears, that four more 
books, which have hitherto remained in MS., are about 
to be published. Histoire du Christianisme (connue sous le 
nom d'Ecclesiastique), par PAbbe Fleury, &c. augmentee 
de Quatre Livres (les livres ci. cii. ciii. et civ.) compre- 



284 APPENDIX. 

nant l'histoire du Quinzieme siecle, publies pour la pre- 
miere fois d'apres un Manuscrit de Fleury appartenant a 
la Bibliotheque Royale, et continuee jusqu'a la fin du dix- 
huitieme siecle par une Societe d'Ecclesiastiques, sous 
la direction de M. L'Abbe O. Vidal, Membre du Clerge 
de Paris. Avec une Table Generale des Matieres sur le 
plan de celle de Rondet. Paris, 1836. It is in large 
octavo ; and the third volume, the last which I have seen, 
comes down to the end of the 56th Book, which terminates 
with the year 975. 

Note WW. p. 166. 

On peut dire que l'Histoire des Variations a produit 
celle-ci, et qu'elle en a fait naitre le dessein. Nous n'avons 
pas entrepris cet ouvrage afin d'y etaler les variations de 
Pancienne Eglise, et les contradictions des Docteurs par- 
ticuliers, a Dieu ne plaise ! Pourquoi chercher dans un 
beau visage toutes les taches qui le deshonorent, et tra- 
vailler avec effort pour diminuer le respect et l'estime 
qu'on a pour les Peres ? Ces divisions des Theologiens et 
des Peres de Pancienne Eglise ne sont entrees dans notre 
Histoire, que quand la chose etoit inevitable, et que la 
sincerite dont nous faisons profession, nous empechoit de 
les dissimuler. Mais en ecrivant contre M. de Meaux 
nous trouvames dans son livre une longue digression, 
chargee d'accusations contre les Albigeois et les Vaudois, 
que les Reformez regardent comme leurs ancetres, et 
comme ceux qui ont fait passer la verite jusqu'a nous. 
Cet incident parut plus important que le principal, et nous 
crumes des lors qu'il etoit absolument necessaire de faire 
l'histoire entiere de la succession de l'Eglise, et de montrer 
le cours de la Religion de siecle en siecle, depuis Jesus- 
Christ jusqu'a nous. 



APPENDIX. 285 

On execute aujourd'hui ce qu'on ne pouvoit faire alors, 
et on donne une Histoire du Gouvernement de l'Eglise, de 
ses principaux Dogmes, et de son Culte. Quoiqu'on ait vu 
paroitre plusieurs Histoires Ecclesiastiques, et que divers 
Savans de Tune et de l'autre Communion ayent donne 
des Traitez historiques sur certains dogmes, et sur quelque 
partie du culte, celle-ci ne laissera pas d'avoir quelque 
chose de nouveau, parceque le dessein en est plus etendu, 
qu'on y rassembla des parties separees, dont on a fait un 
corps, tellement qu'on peut voir d'un coup d'ceil ce qui 
s'est dit et fait de plus considerable sur chaque matiere de 
siecle en siecle. Preface, p. vi. vii. 

Note XX. p. 174. 

As a specimen, I transcribe his opinion of the Arian 
controversy : Es waren nunmehro beyde Partheyen und 
also die meisten christlichen Lehrer von der * ersten 
Einfalt des Glaubens abgewichen und batten an Statt des 
thathigen Christenthums blosse Meynungen, leere Satze 
Kunst-worter und seuchtige Fragen auf die Bahn gebracht. 
Auch was die Alten noch vor einen Ausdruck in der 
Krafft gehabt hatten, das nahmen diese nur nach der 
Schale und dem ausserlichen Klang an, disputirten sich 
damit herum, und vergassen des einigen nothwendigen 
Gantz dabey, wolten hingegen die unausprechliche Gott- 
heit mit gewissen Worten beschreiben, und in so enge 
Schranken das unendliche Wesen einschliessen. Dahero 
auch hernach auf Seiten der Arian er bey dem stetigen 
Disputiren und Zancken die christliche Pflicht hindan 
gesetzet ward, gleichwie man in dem Verfahren der Ortho- 
doxen kein Zeichen des wahren Christenthums mehr 
findet. B. iv. c. viii. 8. Th. i. 205. But the Arians had 
already found a champion. The work of Christophorus 



286 APPENDIX. 

Sandius, intituled " Nucleus Historian Ecclesiastics ex- 
hibita in historia Arianorum, tribus libris comprehensa," 
published at Amsterdam in 1668, was an attempt to main- 
tain the antiquity of Socinianism. 

Note YY. p. 181. 
The following list of the Benedictine editions of the 
Fathers may perhaps be found useful. It has been com- 
piled chiefly from Le Cerf and Tassin: — 

TITLE. EDITOR. SIZE. DATE. 

S. Barnabae Epistola Menard, .... 4to. Par. 1642. 

B. Lanfranci Cantuar. Opera . . . D'Achery, .... fol. 1648. 

S. Bernardi Opera Mabillon, . . torn. 2. fol. 1667. 

S. Anselmi Cantuar. Opera . . . Gerberon, .... fol. 1675. 

{Delfau, Blampin, Cou- 
stant,Guesnie, Mabillon, 
torn. 11. fol. . Paris. 1679—1700. 
Cassiodori Opera Garet, torn. 2. fol. Rothomagi, 1679. 

rDu Friscbe and Le Nourri, 

S. Ambrosn Opera 1 

\ torn. 2. fol. . . Paris. 1686—90. 

S. Hilarii Pictav. Opera Coustant, .... fol. Paris. 1693. 

fMartianay, Pouget & Bara, 

torn. 5. fol. . Paris. 1693—1706. 

S. Athanasii Opera . . Montfaucon, torn. 3. fol. Paris. 1698. 

S. Gregorii Turonensis Opera . . . Ruinart, .... fol. Paris. 1699. 

De Sainte Marthe, torn. 4. 

fol Paris. 1705. 

S. Hildeberti Turonensis Opera . . Beaugendre, . . fol. Paris. 1708. 

S. Irenaei contra Haereses libri v. . . Massuet, .... fol. Paris. 1710. 

Lucii Caecilii Liber de mortibus per-*) 

\ Le Nourri, . . . 8vo. Paris. 1710. 
secutorum ) ' 

. _, . _ (Montfaucon, torn. 13. 

S. Joannis Chrysostomi Opera . . < 

\ fol. Paris. 1718—38. 

S. Cyrilli Hierosol. Opera .... Touttee and Maran, fol. Paris. 1720. 

. ... fGarnier and Maran, torn. 3. 

S. Basiln Opera J 

(fol Paris. 1721—30. 

S. Cypriani Opera, post Baluzium . Maran, .... fol. Paris. 1726. 

S. Justini Martyris Opera .... Maran, .... fol. Paris. 1742. 

Origenis Opera De la Rue, torn. 4. fol. Paris. 1733-59. 

S. Gregorii Nazian. Operum tomus 1 . Clemencet, . . . fol. Paris. 1778. 



S. Hieronymi Opera J 



S. Gregorii Papae I. Opera .... I 



APPENDIX. 287 

Note ZZ. p. 184. 

After criticising with some severity the principles of 
writing Ecclesiastical history professed by Fleury, he thus 
states his own views : Pu6 ciascuno dalle cose finora dette 
agevolmente inferirne, non essere io stato come l'Istorico 
Franzese, si scrupuloso in attenermi alia pura narrazione 
de i fatti, ma essermi preso la liberta di premettere i con- 
venienti preamboli, a fine di accennare i consigli, e le 
cagioni, e le origini delle cose ; e di connettere insieme, il 
meglio che per me si e potato, una parte dell' Istoria 
coll' altra e procurato di farvi sopra, o piii tosto mesco- 
larvi e inserirvi le mie riflessioni; in che specialmente 
mi son preso maggior licenza, quando ho creduto di 
non patermi dispensare dal trattare alcun punto o della 

profana, o della Giudaica Storia In somnia 

non ho mai in lietta la serie del mio discorso perduto di 
mira Gesu Cristo, e la sua Chiesa ; e siccome i migliori 
Storici Greci e Romani non si sono divertiti a narrar le 
cose delle altre Monarchic, e degli altri stati, se non in 
quanto intervenivano ne i loro affari le Greche o la 
Romana Republica : cosi neppur io ho creduto di dover 
toccare le cose appartenenti alia Romana, o alia Giudaica 
Istoria, se non in quanto si vede, essere state ordinate e 
dirette le cose loro da una special Providenza in favor 
della Chiesa, e si vede in esse risplendere la gloria di 
Gesu Cristo, e avere anche gli uomini empj, senza saperlo, 
contribuito all'esecuzione de i suoi disegni, e all'adempi- 
mento delle sue profezie. Benche io abbia usata tutta la 
diligenza ed esattezza possibile nel raccogliere la materia 
di questa Istoria da i piu antichi e accreditati Scrittori, 
senza punto alterare i fatti, ne aggiugner loro, o sottrarne 
alcuna notabile circostanza; non ho per6 voluto farmi 
schiavo delle loro parole, ma scrivere a modo mio, e valer- 
mene con liberta. Prefazione, p. 18—20. 

12 



288 APPENDIX. 

Note AAA. p. 186. 

Trouvant beaucoup d'exageration, de contradictions, 
de fausses imputations, dans ce qu'on nous raconte de 
Manichee, de ses Dogmes, et de sa Morale ; j'ai tache de 
Pexaminer en Critique. J'ai eu pitie d'une Secte, deja 
trop malheureuse, pour avoir etrangement corrompu la Foi 
Chretienne, et pour avoir ete des sa naissance l'objet des 
fureurs d'un zele inhumain. Je la justifie, quand il me 
paroit qu'on Pa calomniee : je Pexcuse, quand elle me 
paroit excusable, et je ne croi pas qu'on doive m'en 
savoir mauvais gre. Si je suis dans Perreur, c'est dans 
Perreur du monde la plus innocente. Tome i. p. 3. 

Note BBB. p. 193. 

It was probably the first work of this nature which was 
written from the sources. He says in his preface : Prin- 
ceps hsec mea cura fuit, ut narrationi fidem et auctoritatem 
compararem. Ea re ipsos fontes, ex quibus haurienda 
est, scriptores puta omnium setatum optimos et rebus, de 
quibus exponunt, aut aequales, aut vicinos adii et attente 
consului, quseque scripta in illis inveni breviter, perspicue, 
nervose retuli. Solent plerumque, qui breves Historiarum 
Summas conficiunt, majores et longiores aliorum Com- 
mentaries contrahere : et hunc ego morem in multis ipse 
olim sequutus sum. Habet ille suas caussas, nee totus 
improbari potest : idem vero efficit, ut errores quibus 
longa et magnae molis opera semper fere abundant, per- 
ennitatem quodammodo adipiscantur et ex uno libro in 
plurimos alios migrent. Dudum hoc infinitis exemplis 
edoctus noveram: verum denuo non sine animi molestia 
didici, quum lumen testium primi ordinis libro meo ad- 
moverem. Animadverti enim, etiam eorum fidem, qui 
diligentia et fide ceteris omnibus prsestare putantur, non 



APPENDIX. 289 

satis tutam esse, atque amplissimam ubique occasion em 
addendi, demendi, mutandi, corrigendi reperi. In hoc 
labore scio nee constantiam et industriam mihi defuisse, 
nee attentionem et vigilantiam : quibus ducibus num 
errandi semper periculum feliciter effugerim, difficillimum 
vero hoc esse nemo harnm rerum peritus ignorat, viderint, 
qui rerum inter Christianos gestarum cognitione ducuntur. 
Quofacilius autem videre ac judicare possent, quibus com- 
modum est, auctores plerumque accurate indicavi, quos 
sequutus sum : quorum sententias si depravavi male nar- 
rando aut parum apte retuli, minus mihi, fateor. excusa- 
tionis erit, quam aliis hoc in genere peccantibus, quia 
omnes, quos testatus sum, ipse ante oculos habui, trac- 
tavi, legi, inter se contuli, alienaeque fidei me committere 
nolui. 

Note CCC. p. 202. 

Tzschirner says of it: Ob aber gleich das Schrockh- 
ische Werk nicht frey von Mangeln ist und man in ihm, 
zwar richtige und feine Beurtheilung, aber doch keinen 
tiefen pragmatischen Geist, zwar eine zweckmassige 
zusammensetzung, nicht aber eine kunstreiche Anordnung, 
zwar eine beyfallswerthe, nicht aber eine classische Dars- 
tellung findet, so trage ich doch nicht Bedenken, das oben 
iiber den Werth dieses Werkes ausgesprochene Urtheil zu 
wiederholen und ihm unter alien das Gantze der Kirchen- 
geschichte umfassenden Schriften den ersten Platz zuzu- 
gestehen. Es giebt kirchenhistorische Werke, welche an 
einzelnen Vollkommenheiten das Schrockhische bey weitem 
ubertreffen ; vereiniget aber werden in keinem so viele 
Vorziige, wie in diesem, gefunden. Ueber Schrockh's 

Leben, S. 78, 79. And Staudlin : Hier haben wir 

zum Gliicke ein Werk erhalten, welches so viel verei- 

U 



290 APPENDIX. 

nigte, als bisher noch in keiner andern Kirchenhistoire 
vereinigt war und welches im Gantzen das zugleich aus- 
fiihrlichste und lehrreichste war, das unser Zeitalter hervor- 
gebracht hat. Geschichte und Literatur der Kirchen- 
geschichte, S. 170. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 

OF THE 

WRITERS OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 

FROM THE REFORMATION TO THE PRESENT TIME. 



The basis of the following Index is the list of the writers 
of Ecclesiastical History given by Fabricius, in the twelfth 
volume of his Bibliotheca Grseca (pp. 176 — 186). I have 
increased it by inserting the articles which have since been 
noticed by the Walchs, Ritter, and Gieseler, and others 
which I have met with in my own studies. It is, I believe, 
the most extensive which has yet been published ; but it 
is probably far from being complete. 

The abbreviations employed are, A. for Anglican ; Arm* 
Arminian ; Ant. Antitrinitarian ; D. English Dissenter ; 
L. Lutheran ; R. Reformed ; R. C. Roman Catholic. 



Alber, J. Nep. (r. c), Institution es Historise Eccles. Co- 

locse, 1793. 4 vols. 8vo. 
Alexander, Natalis (r. a), Historia Ecclesiastica, See 

p. 147. 

U 2 



292 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 

Andrea, Joli. Valentin., and Wagner, Joh. Bernard (l.), 
Kurtze Kirchen-historie aus des seel. Lucse Osiandri 
Centurien Kiirtzlich zusammen gezogen. Strasburg, 
1630. 12mo. 

Arnold, Gottfried (l.), Kurtzgefaste Kirchen-historie des 
alten und neuen Testaments. Leipzig, 1697. 8vo. 
Kirchen-und Ketzer-Historia. See p. 173. 

Aurelius, Ludovicus (r. c), Annales Eccles. Baronii in 
Compendium redacti. Romse, 1634. 12mo. 3 vols. 

Bahrdt, C. F. (l.), Entwurf einer Kirchenhistorie des 
N. T. Frkf. 1773. 

Baronius, Ccesar (r. a), Annales Ecclesiastici. See p. 122. 

Basnage, Jacques (r.), Histoire de TEglise. See p. 166. 

Basnagius, Samuel (r.), Annales Politico-Ecclesiastici. 
See p. 168. 

Baumgarten, Siegmund Jacob (l.), Auszug der Kirchen- 
geschichte. Halle, 1743 — 46. In three parts, which 
treat the history of the first nine centuries. 
Breviarium Historise Christianse. Halse, 1754. 

Becchetti, Filippo Angelico (r. c), La Istoria Ecclesiastica 
del? Eminentissimo Cardinale Giuseppe Agostino 
Orsi dell' Ordine de' Predicatori proseguita. In 
Roma, 1770 — 78. 10 vols. 4to. I have seen no more 
than these. The tenth ends with the year 1138. 

Becker, Clem. (r. a), Historia Eccles. Practica. Monas- 
terii Westphal. 1781 — 92. In 7 vols. 8vo. It comes 
down to the Peace of Westphalia. 

Benzelius, Ericus (r.), Breviarium Historise Ecclesiastics 
Veteris et Novi Testamenti. Stregnesii, 1695. 8vo. 

Berault-Bercastel, Antoine Henri (r.c), Histoire del'Eglise 
jusqu'en 1721. Paris, 1778. In 24 vols. 12mo. Se- 
veral times reprinted. A new edition, continued from 
1720 to the time of Leo XII. by Pelier de Lacroix. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 293 

Paris, 1830. There is a German translation in 24 
vols. 8vo. Vienna, 1784—91. 

Berniera, Joannes Angelus (r.), Historise Ecclesiastics Com- 
pendium, a Reformatione Zuinglii et Lutheri ad nostra 
usque tempora. Ultrajecti ad Rhenum, 1703. 8vo. 

Berti, J. L. (r. c), Ecclesiastical Historian Breviarium. 
Venetiis, 1761. 8vo. 

Bibelius, Balthasar (l.), Memorabilia Historige Ecclesias- 
tica3 recentioris, a tempore Reformationis mdxvii. 
ccepta, usque ad annum mdclxxx. perducta, con- 
tinuata deinceps supplementis usque mdccxxx. et 
edita per C. A. Hausen. Dresdse, 1731. 4to. 

Bisciola, Joh. Gabriel (r. c), Epitome Annalium Baronii. 
Venetiis, 1602. 4to. in two volumes. 

Bomplanus, Ignatius (r. c), Historia Christian arum rerum 
a Christi ortuad nostra usque tempora. Romse, 1665. 
12mo. 

Bossuet, Jacques Benigne (r. c), Discours sur l'Histoire 
Universelle. Paris, 1681. Uebersetzt und fortgeftihrt 
bis 1532 von J. Andr. Cramer, (l.) Leipzig, 1757 — 
86. 8Bde. 

Bour going, Francois (r.), Histoire Ecclesiastique. See 
p. 118. 

Buchingerus, Michael (r. c), Historia Ecclesise Catholicse 
et Antichristianse ; a Petro ad Paulum IV. Papam. 
Moguntise, 1560. fol. 

Burton, Edward (a.), History of the Christian Church, 
from the ascension of Jesus Christ to the conversion 
of Constantine. London, 1836. 12mo. 

Bzovius, Abraham, (r. c), Historia Ecclesiastica ex Cses. 
Baronii Annalibus aliorumque virorum illustrium ec- 
clesiasticis historicisque monumentis. Colonise, 1617. 
In two vols, folio : continued by J. F. Matenesius. 



294 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 

But the principal work of Bzovius was his continu- 
ation of Baronius. See p. 131. 

Caccini, Thomas (r. c.) Historia Ecclesiastica. Fabricius 

mentions this as an Italian work printed at Florence 

in 1639. fol. 
Caferrius, Nic. Angelus (r. a), Synthema Vetustatis, sive 

Flores historiarum, e Cardinalis Baronii, Saliani, 

Petavii et aliorum celebrium Scriptorum monumentis. 

Romee, 1677. fol. Schmid. 164. 
Calixtus, Georgius (l.), De Statu Rerum in Ecclesia Occi- 

dentali Seculis iix, ix, x. et deinceps, quando Ponti- 

ficius Dominatus et Corrupted invaluerunt. Helm- 

stadii, J 657. 
Capellns, Jacobus (r.), Historise Ecclesiastica? Centurise 

quinque, ab Augusti nativitate ad Imperatorem Va- 

lentinianum III. Sedani, 1622. 4to. 
Carolus, Andreas (l.), Memorabilia Ecclesiastica Sseculi a 

nato Christo decimi septimi. Tubingae, 1697 — 1702. 

In two vols. 4to. 
Centuries Magdeburgenses (l.) s Basil. 1559 — 74. See p. 111. 
Chefneux, Matthias (r. c), Ecclesiae Catholicae Speculum 

Chronographicum. Leodii, 1661 — 6. fol. in two vols. : 

the first contains the Old Testament history, and the 

second part of the second (which seems to have been 

all that was published; Sagittar. i. 363. Walch. iii. 

52.) comes down only to the end of the ninth century. 
Choisy, Francois Timoleon de (r. c), Histoire de PEglise. 

Paris, 1703—23. in 11 vols. 4to. 
Clericus, Joannes (arm.), Historia Ecclesiastica duorum 

primorum a C. N. seculorum. Amstel. 1716. 4to. 
Compendium Histories Ecclesiasticce Gothanum (l.). Gothae, 

1666—70. in two vols. 8vo. The first volume, con- 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 295 

taining the history of the Old Testament, was written 
by Seckendorf; the second, which comes down to 
the Peace of Westphalia, by Jo. Ch. Artopoeus. Vide 
Walch. iii. 53. 

Cotta, Joh. Friedr. (l.), Versuch einer ausfuhrlichen 
Kirchen-Historie des N. T. von Anfang der ehrist- 
lichen Zeitrechnungen bis auf gegenwartige Zeit. 
Tubingen, 1768 — 73. in three vols. 8vo. Containing 
the first three centuries. 

Cramer, J. A. (l.) See Bossuet. 

Crispin, Jean (r.), Etat de l'Eglise des le terns des Apostres 
iusques a present, et un abrege des troubles de France. 
A Strasbourg, 1565 and 1581. 8vo. Enlarged and 
continued by Jean Taffin, a Bergues sur le Zoom, 
1605. 4to. 

Dannenmayer Matthias (r.c), Institutiones Historian Eccle- 
siastics Novi Testamenti. Vfiennse, 1788 and 1806. 
in two parts. 

Dannhauerus, Jo. Conrad (l.), Christeis; sive drama 
sacrum, TrpoOswp'ia et actus primus trisecularem Ec- 
clesise sortem a Christo in caelos sublimato usque ad 
Constantinum M. exhibens. Argentorati, 1646. 4 to. 
Ejusdem Actus secundus, ex MS. codice editus studio 
Jo. Friderici Wandalini, a Constantino nimirum Magno 
ad Heraclium. Hafnise, 1708. 4to. 

Danz, J. T. L. (l.), Lehrbuch der christlichen Kirchen- 
geschichte. Jena, 1818 — 26. 2 vols. 8vo. 

Diezius, Justus Laurentius (l.), Succincta Historia N. T. 
a Christo nato usque ad Philippum Melancthonem. 
Amstel. 1726. 8vo. 

Ducreux, Gabriel- Marin (r. c), Les Siecles Chretiens, ou 
l'Histoire du Christianisme dans son etablissement 



296 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 

et ses progres depuis Jesus- Christ jusqu'a nos jours. 
Paris, 1775—1777. 10 vols, in 12mo. 

Echard, Lawrence (a.), A General Ecclesiastical History 
from the Nativity of our Blessed Saviour to the first 
Establishment of Christianity. London, 1702. fol. 

Eyinherus, Elias (l.), Seculum xv. Historiee Ecclesias- 
tics. Francofurti, 1659. 4to. 

Enfant, David V (r.), Histoire de tous les siecles de la 
nouvelie Loy, contenant succincement ce qui c'est 
passe de plus remarquable dans le Monde et dans 
l'Eglise. Seconde edition, a Paris, 1683. 6 vols. 
Fabr. xii. 179. 

Enyelhardt, J. G. V. (l.), Handbuch der Kirchenges- 
chichte. Erlangen, 1833. 3 vols. 

Espencaus, Claude (r. a), Apophtegmes Ecclesiastiques, 
ou ploutot abrege de Phistoire, contenant tous les faits 
et dits memorables, avenus depuis la mort de Jesus 
Christ, jusques a l'Empereur Phocas. A Paris, 
1578. 8vo. Walch. iii. 174. 

Fabre, Claude (it. c), Histoire Ecclesiastique, pour servir 
de Continuation a celle de Mr. Fleury. A Paris, 
1726—40. 16 vols. 4to. 

Fabricius, G. (l.), Instit. Historise Ecclesiastics secun- 
dum Moshemii ordinem. Giess. 1770. 

Fechtius, Joannes (l.), Tabulae Historise Ecclesiasticse 
sseculi xvi. Rostochii, 1690. 4to. 

Fleury, Claude (r. c), Histoire Ecclesiastique. A Paris, 
1691 — 1720. In twenty vols. 4to. See Fabre. 

Fry, John (a.), A short History of the Church of Christ 
from the close of the sacred Narrative to our own 
times. . Designed for the use of Schools, or of those 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 297 

persons to whom the size of the Church-History of 
the late Mr. Milner (should that valuable work ever 
be completed) would be an objection. London, 
1825. 8vo. 

Gardeboscius, Ambrosius (r. a), Historiae Ecclesiastical a 

Christi ortu ad hanc usque aetatem Synopsis, et in 

omnia ejusdem controversa capita Dissertationes. 

Tolosae, 1713. fol. The first vol., containing the first 

century, only appears to have been published. 
Gaidtruche, (r. c.) L'Histoire Sainte. This writer, a 

Jesuit, is mentioned by Fabricius as the author of 

a highly popular work in 4 vols. 12mo. 
Gesselius, Timannus (r.), Historia Sacra et Ecclesiastica 

ab anno Mundi ad annum Christi mcxxv. Trajecti 

ad Rhenum, 1659 — 61. In two vols. 4to. 
Giesekr, Joh. Carl Ludw. (l.), Lehrbuch der Kirchenge- 

schichte. Darmstadt, 1824. In two vols, or five parts. 
Gmeiner, Xaverius (r. c), Epitome Historiae Ecclesias- 
ticse N. T. Graec. 1787. 2 vols. 8vo. 
Godeau, Antoine (r. c), Histoire de l'Eglise depuis Jesus 

Christ, iusques a Tan 799. Paris, 1653. 3 vols. fol. 
Grand, Antonius le (r.), Historia Sacra, a mundi exordio 

ad Constantini Magni tempora deducta. Londini, 

1685. 8vo. 
Grandi, Victorio Silvestro (r. a), Storia Ecclesiastica 

dalla Creazione del Mondo sino al secolo corrente. 

Ven. 1708. 3 vols. 4to. Fabr. xii. 180. 
Graveson, Ignatius Hyacinthus Amatus de (r. c), Historia 

Ecclesiastica, variis colloquiis digesta. Romae, 1717 

— 1722. 9 vols. 8vo. 
Gregory, G. (a.), An History of the Christian Church, 

from the earliest periods to the present time. London, 

1788. 2 vols. 12mo. 



298 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 

Grulich, Martimis (l.), Annales Theologico-Ecclesiastici ; 

oder historische Nachrichten von alien Merckwiir- 

digkeiten die sich in Kirchen und theologischen 

Sachen seit der Reformation Lutheri zugetragen. 

Dresden, 1734. 4to. 
Gruner, J. F. (l.), Versuch eines pragmatischen Auszugs 

aus der Kirchengeschichte der Christen. Halle, 

J 766. 
Gudenus, Fr. von (r. c), Geschichte des ersten christ- 

lichen Jahrhunderts. Wiirzburg, 1783. des zweiten 

Jahrhunderts. 1787. 8vo. 
Guerike, H. C. F. (l.), Handbuch der allgemeinen 

Kirchengeschichte. Halle, 1833. 

Hase, Karl, Kirchengeschichte. Leipzig, 1834. 

Haweis, Thomas (d.), An Impartial and Succinct History 
of the Rise, Declension, and Revival of the Church 
of Christ ; from the birth of our Saviour to the pre- 
sent time. London, 1800. 3 vols. 8vo. 

Hempel, E. Fried, (l.), Geschichte der christlichen Re- 
ligion fur die Gebildeten tinter ihren Bekennern. 
Leipzig, 1830. 2 Bde. 

Henichius, Joannes (l.), Historia Ecclesiastica. Rintelii, 
1669 — 74. In three vols. 4to. containing the history 
of the first five centuries. 

Henke, H. P. C. (l.), Allgemeine Geschichte der christ- 
lichen Kirche, fortgesetzt von J. S. Vater. Braun- 
schweig, 1788 — 1823. in 9 vols. 8vo. My copy of 
the first volume is of the fourth edition, 1800. 

Holberg, L. von (l.), Allgemeine Kirchenhistorie vom 
ersten Anfang des Christenthums bis auf die Re- 
formation, ubersetz von G. A. Detharding. Kopen- 
hagen, 1749. 

Horneius, Conradus (l.), Compendium Historise Eccle- 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 299 

siasticse. Helmst. 1649. 4to. It comes down only 

to the reign of Constantine the Great. 
Hornius, Georgius (r.), Historia Ecclesiastica ab Orbe 

condito ab suam aetatem. Lugd. Bat. 1665. 12mo. 
Hortig, Nepomuk (r. c), Handbuch der christlichen 

Kirchengeschichte, beendigt von J. J. J. Dbllinger. 

Landshut, 1826—35. 4 Bde. 
Hottingerus, Joannes Henricus (r.), Historia Ecclesiastica 

Novi Testamenti. Hanovise, 1655 — 68. 8vo. In 

nine parts or vols. 

Ittigius, Thomas (l.), Historise Ecclesiasticse primi a 
Christo nato Seculi Selecta Capita. Lipsise, 1709. 4to. 
A second volume, containing the second century, 
in 1711. 

Jablonski, P. E. (r.), Institutiones Historise Christianse, 
Francf. ad Viad. 1753 — 56. 2 vol. Continued in 
another volume through the eighteenth century by 
Stosch. 1767. 

Jaegerus, Jo. Wolfgangus (l.), Historia Ecclesiastica Sse- 
culi xvii. Hamburgi, 1709- — 1717. In two vols. fol. 

Jortin, J. (a.), Remarks on Ecclesiastical History. Lon- 
don, 1751—73. 5 vols. 8vo. 

Juncker, Christian (l.), Grundlegung zur Kirchen-historie ; 
oder kurtzgefaster Unterricht in der Kirchen-historie 
altes und neues Testaments. Hamburg, 1710. 8. 

Katerkamp, Th. (r. c), Kirchengeschichte. Minister, 1823 

— 34. 5 Bde. To the end of the second Crusade. 
Klein, Antonius (r. c), Historia Ecclesise Christ. Grsecii, 

1828. 2 vol. 
Kortholtus, Christianus (l.), Historia Ecclesiastica N. T. 

Kar iiriTOfxriv, a Christo nato usque ad seculum xvu. 

Lipsise, 1697. 4to. 

8 



300 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 

Kranzius, Gottlob (l.), Historia Ecclesiastica a Christo 
nato ad nostra usque tempora. Lauba?, 1736. 4to. 

Krausius, Jo. Henricus (l.), Memorabilia circa incremen- 
tum vel decrementum Ecclesia3 per secula xvn. 
Lipsia?, 1703. 4to. 

Kromayerus, Hieronymus (l ), Ecclesia in Politia; id est, 
Historia? Ecclesiastica? Centuria? xvi. cum prsesente 
dimidiata. Lipsia?, 1666. 4to. 

Kromayerus, Joannes (l.), Indiculus Historia? Ecclesiastica?, 
ab orbe condito ad Synodum Dordracenam. Lipsia?, 
1657. 

Kromayerus, Melchior (l.), Kirchen- Chronica Neues Tes- 
taments. Fabr. xii. 181. 

Laderchius, Jacobus (r. c), Annales Ecclesiastici. Roma?, 
1728—37. 3 vols. fol. p. 184. 

Lampe, Fridericus Adolph. (r.), Synopsis Historia? Sacra? 
et Ecclesiastica?, ab origine mundi ad pra?sentia tem- 
pora, secundum seriem periodorum deducta?. Trajecti 
ad Rhenum, 1721. 8vo. 

Langius, Joachimus (l.), Historia Ecclesiastica a mundo 
condito ad sa?culum pra?sens xvm. deducta. Hala?, 
1722. 8vo. 

Layritzius, Jo. Georgius (l.), Synopsis Historia? Eccle- 
siastica? Novi Testamenti. Lipsia?, 1697. 12mo. 

Leydecker, Wilhelm (r.) Kerckeliike Historie soo van bet 
Old als Nieuwe Testament. Dordrecht, 1691. 8vo. 

Locherer, Jolu Nep. (r. c), Geschichte der christlichen 
Religion und Kirche. Ravensburg, 1824—35. 9 Thle. 

Lossius, Lucas (l.), Ecclesiastica? Historia? facta et dicta 
memorabilia, carmine expressa elegiaco. Francof. 
1571. 8vo. Fabr. xii. 182. 

Marheinecke,- P. C. (l.), Universalkirchenhistorie des 
Christenthums. Erlangen, 1806. p. 206. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 301 

Matter, M. J. (r.), Histoire Universelle de l'Eglise 
Chretienne, consideree principalement dans ses Insti- 
tutions et dans ses Doctrines. Strasbourg, 1829 — 35. 
in 5 vols. 8vo. 

Mel, Conrad (l.), Kurtzer Begriffder Kirchenhistorie des 
alten und neuen Testaments. Frankf. 1712. 8vo. 

Michl, Anton (r. c), Christliche Kirchengeschichte. Miin- 
chen, 1811-12. 2 Thle. 

Microelius, Joannes (l.), Syntagma Historiarum Ecclesiarum 
omnium, quo ab Adamo Judaicse et a Salvatore nostro 
Christiana? Ecclesise, politia, ritus, persequutiones, 
transplantationes,halcyonia,Doctores, Synodi, hsereses 
et schismata perspicue et ordine proponuntur. Stetini, 
1630. 8vo. 

Milner, Joseph (a.), History of the Church of Christ. 
York and Cambridge, 1794—1809. 4 vols. 8vo. 
Continued by Dean Milner and the Rev. John Scott. 

Molkenbuhr, Marcellinus (r. c), Historia Religionis Chris- 
tiana? in compendio exhibita. Paderbornse, 1818-19. 
in two vols, extending to the year 451. 

Morgenbesser, M. (l.), Geschichte der christlichen Kirche 
fur gebildete Christen, besonders fur Prediger und 
Schullehrer. Breslau, 1825. 

Moshemius, Joannes Laurentius (l.), Institutiones Historise 
Ecclesiasticse N. T. Francof. 1726. 8vo. 

Institutiones Historise Christiana? Antiquioris. 
Helmst. 1737. 8vo. 

Institutiones Hist. Christ. Recentioris. Helmst. 
1741. 8vo. 

Institutiones Hist. Christ, majores. Sa^c. I. Helmst. 
1739. 4to. 

De Rebus Christianorum ante Constant. M. Com- 
mentary*. Helmst. 1753. 4to. 



302 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 

Institution um Hist. Eccles. antiquse et recentioris 
libri quatuor. Helmst. 1755. 4to. 

Mudzaert, Dionysius (r. a), Kerckeliike Historic Ant- 
werp, 1622. 2 vols. fol. 

Miinscher, W. (r.), Lehrbuch der chistlichen Kirchenge- 
schichte. Marburg, 1804. 

Mutio Justinopolitano (r. c), Storia Sacra. Venezia, 1570. 
4to. Fabr. xii. 182. 

Neander, August (l.), Allgemeine Geschichte der christ- 
lichen Religion und Kirche. Hamburg, 1825 — 36. 
8 vols. 

Orsi, Giuseppe Agostino (r. c.) , Storia Ecclesiastica. Roma, 
1748—62. 21 vols. 4to. 

Pagi, Antonius (r. c), Critica Historico-Chronologica in 
Annales Ecclesiasticos Baronii. Paris. 1689 — 1705. 
4 vols. fol. p. 151. 

Panvinius, Onufrius (r. c), Chronicon Ecclesiasticum a 
Julio Csesare usque Maximilian um II. Colonise, 1568. 
folio. 

Pappus, Joannes (l.), Epitome Historiae Ecclesiastics. 
Argentorati, 1584. 8vo. 

Pareus, Daniel (r.), Historiae Ecclesiasticae Medulla. 
Francof. 1638. 

Pater son, Alexander Smith (r.), The History of the Church 
from the Creation of the World, to the commence- 
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in the form of Question and Answer ; compiled and 
abridged from various Authors. Revised, edited, 
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8vo. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX, 303 

Pertsch, Joh. Georg. (l.), Versuch einer Kirchengeschichte, 
sofern solche als ein'e Einleitung zur geistlichen 
Rechtgelehrsamkeit angesehen werden kann. Leip- 
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Pfaffius, Christoph, Matth. (l.), Institutiones Historia? 
Ecclesiastics. Tubingse, 1721. 8vo. 

Pictet, Benoit (r.), Histoire de PEglise et du Monde, 
pour servir de Continuation a Y Histoire de Mr. le 
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4to. 

Pin, Louis Ellies du (r. a), Histoire de FEglise par 
demandes et reponses, depuis le commencement du 
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12mo. 

Pohl, Josephus (r. a), Manuductio ad Historiam Eccles. 
Vindobonse, 1753—59. 6 vols. 8vo. 

Priestley, Joseph (ant.), General History of the Christian 
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Racine, Bonaventure (r. c), Abrege d' Histoire Ecclesias- 

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in 13 vols. 12mo. 
Rauscher, Jos. Othmar von (r. c), Geschichte der christ- 

lichen Kirche. Sulzbach, 1829. Bd. 1. und 2. die 

drei ersten Jahrhunderte. 
Raynaldus, Odoricus (r. c), Annales Ecclesiastici. Romse, 

1646—77. 
Rechenberg, Adam (l.), Summarium Historian Ecclesias- 

ticse. Lipsise, 1697. 12mo. 
Reinhard, Joh. P. (l.), Einleitung zu den Geschichten der 

christlichen Kirche. Erlangen, 1749. 4to. 
Ribothus, Augustinus (r. c), Floras Christianus, hoc est, 



304 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX: 

totius Historise Ecclesiastics Epitome, xn. libris col- 

lecta, a Christo genito ad nostra tempora. Parisiis, 

1666. 12. 
Bitter, Joseph Ignaz (r. c), Handbuch der Kirchenge- 

schichte. Elberfeld. 1826. 2 Bde. 
Rivet, Andre (r.), Histoire de PEglise depuis l'Envoi des 

Apostres jusques a l'an 1620. A Saumur, 1621. 

4to. 
Rosweidus, Heribertus (r. c), Historia Ecclesiastica a 

Christo nato usque ad pontificatum Urbani VIII. 

Antverpise, 1623. 2 vols. fol. 
Royko, Caspar (r. a), Synopsis Historise Religionis et 

Ecclesise Christ. Pragse, 1785. 

Christliche Religions-und Kirchengeschichte. Prag, 

1789—95. 4 Bde. 8vo. 
Ruttenstock, Jacobus (r. c), Institutiones Historise Eccle- 

siasticse. Viennse, 1832 — 34. 3 vols. 8vo. 

Sacharelli (r. c), Historia Ecclesiastica per annos digesta 
variisque observationibus illustrata. Romse, 1771 — 96. 
25 vols. 4to. 

Sandius, Christophorus (ant.), Nucleus Historise Eccle- 
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1668. 8vo. 

Schmalfus, Cosmas (r. c), Historia Religionis et Ecclesise 
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Schmidius, Joh. Andreas (l.), Compendium Historise Ec- 
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Schmidt, J. E. C. (£.}, Handbuch der christlichen Kirch- 
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Grundlinien der christlichen Kirchengeschichte. 
Giessen, 1800. 

Schonland, Sam. Theodor. (l.), Catechetische Anweisung 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 305 

zur Kirchenhistorie von Anbegin der Welt bis auf 
gegenwartige Zeit. Dresden, 1716. 12mo. 

Schrockh, J. M. (l.), Christliche Kirchengeschichte. Leip- 
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Historia Religionis et Ecclesiae Christianae. 
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Schultingius, Cornelius (r. c), Epitome Annalium Eccle- 
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Scoglius, Jo. Horatius (r. c), Historia a primordio Eccle- 
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mdcxxi. Romae, 1622. 8vo. 

Scott, John (a.), Continuation of Milner's History of the 
Church of Christ. London, 1826, et seq. In three 
parts or volumes. 8vo. 

Semler, J. S. (l.), Historiae Ecclesiastics Selecta Capita. 
Hal. 1767—69. See p. 200. 

Commentarii Historici de Antiquo Christianor. 
Statu. 2 vols. Hal. 1771-2. 

Versuch eines fructbaren Auszugs der Kirch- 
engeschichte. 3 Bde. Halle, 1773— 78. 

Versuch christlicher Jahrblicher. 2 Bde. 
Halle, 1783. 

Neue Versuche, die Kirchenhistorie der ersten 
Jahrhunderte aufzuklaren. Leipz. 1788. 

Sigonius, Carolus (r. c), Historia Ecclesiastica. Written 
in the sixteenth century, but first printed at Milan in 
1734. in 2 vols. 8vo. It comes down only to 211. 

Soeffingius, Justus, (l.) Res in Ecclesia et Politia Christi- 
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1670. 8vo. 

Historia quinque saecularis ; seu res in ecclesia et 
politia Christiana gestae per quinque saecula a 
Christo nato. Jenae, 1674. 8vo. 



306 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 

Spanhemius, Frid. (r.), Historia Ecclesiastica. Lugd. 

Bat. 1683. 
Spittier, L. Tim. (l.), Grundriss der Gescliichte der christ- 

lichen Kirche. Gottingen, 1782. 8vo. 
Spondanus, Henricus (r. c), Annales Ecclesiastic!, ex 

tomis Cses. Baronii in Epitomen redacti. Parisiis, 

1612. fol. 

Annalium Cses. Baronii Continuatio, ab anno 

mcxcvii. ad finem mdcxl. Parisiis, 1640. 2 vols. fol. 
Stdudlin, Carl Friedr. (l.), Universal geschichte der christ- 

liclien Kirche. Hannover, 1806. 
Stebbing, H. (a.), A History of the Church. London, 

1833. 2 vols. 12mo. 
Stoger, Ferd. (r. c), Introductio in Historiam Ecclesias- 

ticam Novi Testamenti. Vindobonse, 1776. 8vo. 
Stollberg, Friedr. Leop. Graf von (r. c), Geschichte der 

Religion Jesa. Hamburg, 1806 — 18. in 15 vols. 

8vo. Comes down to the year 430. Fortgesetzt von 

Fr. von Kerz. Mainz, 1828—34. Hitherto 13 vols. 
Streithagen, Petrus a (r. c), Florus Christian us ; sive 

Historiarum de rebus Christiana? religionis libri IV. 

Colonise, 1640. 8vo. 
Stiibnerus, Joannes (l.), Tabulse Synoptiese in Historiam Ec- 

clesiasticam Novi Testamenti. Nor imbergse, 1684. fol. 
Sueur, Jean le (r.), Histoire de l'Eglise et de T Empire, de- 

puis la Naissance de Jesus Christ, jusqu'a la fin du X. 

Siecle. Geneve, 1674— 8. 8 vols. 12mo. 
Symson, Patrick (r.), Historie of the Church since the 

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1624. 4to. 1634. fol. 

Thym, J. F. W. (r.) Historische Entwickelung der Schick- 
sale der christlichen Kirche und Religion fur gebil- 
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BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 307 

7Wemont, Louis-Sebastien le Nain de (r. c), Memoires 
pour servir a l'Histoire Ecclesiastique des six pre- 
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Twretini, Jo. Alphonsus (r.), Historise Ecclesiastics 
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Tzschirner, H. G. (l.), Fortsetzung der Schrbckhischen 
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stantinum M. et de argentea Ecclesiae setate, ap. 

Script. Aleman. Goldast. Francof. 1606. See Fabr. 

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Voter 9 J. Severin. (l.) See Henke. 
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7 vols. 4to. 
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depuis le Bapteme de Notre Seigneur Jesus Christ, 

jusques ace temps. A Leyde, 1601. fol. 

Waddington, George (a.), A History of the Church from 
the earliest Ages to the Reformation. London, 1833. 
1 vol. 8vo. Second edition revised, London, 1835. 
3 vols. 8vo. 

Walch, Christ. Wilh. Franz (l.), Grundsatze der Kirchen- 
geschichte des neuen Testaments. Gbttingen, 1772 
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Walchius, Joh. Geo. (l.), Historia Ecclesiastica Novi Tes- 
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Weismannus, Christ. Eberh. (l.), Introductio in Memorabi- 
lia Ecclesiastica Historian Sacra? Novi Test. ; maxime 
vero seculorum primorum et novissimorum, ad juvan- 

x 2 



308 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 

dam notitiam regni Dei et Satanse, cordisque humani 
salutarem. Stutgardise, 1718. 2 vols. 4to. 

Whiston, William (ant.), Sacred History of the Old and 
New Testament, from the Creation of the world till 
the days of Constantine the Great, reduced into 
Annals, London, 1748. 

Wolf, P. (r. a), Geschichte der christlichen Religion 
und Kirche. Zurich, 1792. 2 Bde. 

Zierold,Jo. With, (l.), EinleitungzurgrundlichenKirchen- 
historie, mit der Historia Philosophica verkniipft, 
darinnen die Kraft des Creutzes Christi als der 
einige Grund des wahren Christenthums, wider die 
Feinde des Creutzes vom Anfang der Welt bis auf 
unsere Zeit vorgestellet wird. Stargard, 1700. 4to. 
Griindliche Kirchenhistorie von der wahren und 
falschen Theologie in einem wiedergebornen und 
unwiedergebornen Menschen, vom Anfang der Welt 
bis auf unsere Zeit. Stargard, 1703. 4to. 

Zola,Josephus(n. c), Commentarii de rebus Christianis ante 
Constantinum M. Ticini, 1780—87. 4 vols. 8vo. 



INDEX. 



Abulpharagius, 88 

Adam of Bremen, 78 

Alexandre, Noel, 147 

Allatius, L. commended. 85, note ; 
Works of, 141 

Anastasius Bibliothecarius, 75 

Anglican School of Church-history, 
155 ; Decline of, 162 ; Extinction 
of, 195 ; Revival of, 208 

Antoninus of Florence, 95 

Architecture considered as a source 
of Ecclesiastical history, 2136 

Arnold, G. Account of, 1?1 ; Im- 
partial history of, 172 ; Influence 
of, 174, 188 

Barbeyrac, J. 185 

Baronius, Account of, 120; wrote 
to counteract the influence of the 
Centuries, 123 ; character of his 
work, 124 ; its effects on the culti- 
vation of Church-history, 126 ; 
Epitomes of, 135 

Bartholomew of Lucca, 93 

BasiliusCilix, Eccles. Hist, of, 43 

Basnage, J. Histoire de l'Eglise of, 
166; his influence estimated, 167 

Basnage, S. Annales Pol. Eccles. 
168 

Baumgarten, 197 

Beausobre, Isaac, 186 

Becchetti, IstoriaEcclesiastica, 184 

Bede, Hist. Eccles. of, 60 

Benedictines of St. Maur promote 
the study of Church-history, 142 ; 
decline of their literary character, 
181 

Beveridge, Bp. 158 

Bingham, Origines Eccles, of, 162 



Biographers, importance of, as sources 
of Eccles. History, 221 

Bull, Bp. 158 

Burton, Dr. E. 209 

Byzantine literature, degraded state 
of, in the seventh and eighth cen- 
turies, 66 ; revival of, 81 

Bzovius continues the Eccles. An- 
nals, 131 

Callixtus, G. 169 

Calvinists, Ecclesiastical works of, 
139 

Cassiodorus, Historical labours of, 
52 

Catalogus Testium, 107 

Cave, 159 

Ceillier, 183 

Choisy, Histoire de l'Eglise of, 183 

Christians, Primitive characterized, 8 

Chronology, 217 

Church-history, natui-e of, 1 ; im- 
portance of, 2 

Civil laws, sources of Eccles. history, 
227 

Clementine Recognitions, 11 

Councils, the importance of, to the 
knowledge of Church-history, 229 

Creeds, a source of Church-history, 
233 

Cyprian, St. 10 

Danz, 207 

Diplomatic, knowledge of, necessary 
to the student of the Sources, 217 

Documents, their importance as 
sources of Eccles. History, 225 

Dodwell, H. 158 

Du Pin, 149 



310 



INDEX. 



EGHARD, L. 161 

Ecclesiastical History, original cha- 
racter of, 35 ; gives place to the 
Chronicles, 55 ; is greatly modified 
by the Reformation, 104 ; im- 
proved by the scholars of the Gal- 
lican Church, 145 ; further im- 
provement of, by Mosheim, 194 ; 
perverted by the Rationalists, 197; 
spirit in which it should be culti- 
vated, 211, 218, and note 1, ibid. 

Ecclesiastical Law, a source of 
Church-history, 231 

Eginhard, 74 

Ernesti, quoted, 226. note 

Eutychius, 87 

Eusebius ofCaesarea, 11 ; his cha- 
racter, 13 ; Ecclesiastical history, 
15 ; Chronicle, 17 ; life of Con- 
stantine, 18 

Evagrius Scholasticus, account 
of, 49 ; Hist. Eccles. 50 

Fabricius, J. A. 187 

Fathers of the fourth century, 19 

Fathers, the, regarded as sources of 
Ecclesiastical history, 223 

Facundus of Hermiana, 54 

Fleury, Claude, 153 

Flodoard, 78 

French Protestant School of Church- 
history, 165, 185 

Gallican School of Church-history, 

145 
Geography, Ecclesiastical, 217 
Geokgius Cedrenus, 86 
Georgius Hamartolus, 82 
Georgius Syncellus, 68 
Gelasius ofCaesarea translates Ru- 

finus, 22 
Gelasius of Cyzicus, Hist, of the 

council of Nice, 40, note 

GlESELER, 207 

Godeau, Histoire de l'Eglise, 136 
Gregory of Tours, 57 
Guerike, 208 

Harbingers of the Reformation, 101 
Haymo of Halberstadt, 74 
Hegesippus, account of, 8 
Henke, 204 
Hesychius said to have written an 

Eccles. History, 41 
History, Civil, importance of, to the 

student of Church-history, 216 
Historians, original, their value as 

Sources of Eccles. history, 218 



Holzhausen, de Fontibus Socratis, 

Sozomeni, et Theodoreti, 33 
Hottinger, 138 

Illyricus, M. F. account of, 105 

Images considered as a source of 
Ecclesiastical history, 241 

Incarnation, controversies respecting 
the, 39 ; importance of, 40 

Infidel writers, influence of, 180 

Inscriptions regarded as a source of 
Ecclesiastical history, 242 

Instruments, legal, a source of Ec- 
clesiastical history, 228 

Isidore of Seville, 59 

Italy, cultivation of Church-history 
in, 183 

Ittig, Th. 170 

IrENjEUS, 10 

Jerome, St. Catalogue of the Eccles. 
writers, 20 ; intended Church- 
history, 20, note 3 

Joannes ^Egeates, Eccles. Hist. 
of, 42 

Joannes Scylitzes, 85 

Joannes Zonaras, 86 

Judas, Chronicle of, 10 

Julius Africanus, account of, 9 

Kaye, Bishop, 209 

Kortholt, Chr. 170 

Krantz, Albert, Metropolis of, 100 

La Croze, M. V. 186 

Laderchius continues Baronius, 
184 

Lardner, N. 195 

Laurentius Valla, 96 

Le Clerc, account of, 176 ; Influ- 
ence on Church-history, 177 

Le Sueur, Histoire de l'Eglise, 163 

LlBERATUS DlACONUS, 54 

Liturgies a source of Eccles. history, 
233 

Mabillon exerts a salutary influ- 
ence on the cultivation of Church- 
history, 143 ; his principal works, 
ibid. 

Maclaine, A., Translation of Mos- 
heim, 194, note 

Magdeburg Centuries, projected, 109 ; 
attacked by the friends of Melanch- 
thon, 1 10 ; account of the manner 
in which it was composed, 111 ; of 
its method, 113; estimate of, 114 ; 



INDEX. 



811 



reception, 118 ; assailed by the 
Romanists, 119 
Maitland, Rev. S. R., 209 

Malelas, Joannes, 64 

Marheinecke, 206 

Martyrologies of the ninth century, 

77 

Materials employed by Socrates, So- 

zomen, and Theodoret, 35 
Medals as a source of Ecclesiastical 

history, 242 
Middle Ages, commencement of, 37 ; 

comparative condition of the East 

and West during, 38 
■ ■ Condition of History 

in the, 55. 72. 90 
Mediaeval History, character of, 72 
Milner, Jos., 196 
Monk, Bp., Life of Bentley, 64, 

note 1 ; 177 
Monuments, their importance as 

sources of Ecclesiastical history, 

235 
Mosheim forms an era in the culti- 
vation of Eccles. history, 192 ; 

his merits, ibid. ; defects, 193 

MURATORI, 183 



Neander, 207; translated by Rev. 

Henry John Rose, 207, note 1 
Newman, Rev. J. H., 209 
Nicephorus Callisti, Account of, 

91 ; Eccles. Hist, of, 92 
Nicephorus Patriarcha, 71 
Nicetas Paphlago, 82 

Ordericus Vitalis, 80 
Origen, 10 

Orosius, Paulus, contra Paganos, 23 
Orsi, Istoria Ecclesiastica, 184 
Osiander, Lucas, abridges the Cen- 
turies, 129 

Pagi, Antoine, 151 

Palmer, Rev. W., Origines Litur- 

gicse, 234. note 
Panvinius, Onufrius, 120 
Paschal Chronicle, 65 
Paulus Diaconus, 62 
Pearson, Bp., 158 
Petrus Siculus, Account of the 

Paulicians, 82 
Pfaff, C. M., 197 
Philip of Sida, Christian Hist, of, 

24 
Philology, Ecclesiastical, 216 
Philastorgius, Eccles. Hist, of, 26 



Photius, Age of, 81 ; account of the 

Paulicians, 82 
Pictures considered as a source of 

Church-history, 242 
Platina, 97 

Qualifications necessary in the stu- 
dent of the sources of Eccles. 
history, 216 

Rationalists, Principles of the, 203 

Raynaldus continues the Eccles. 
Annals, 133 

Reckenberg, A., 170 

Reformation, effects of on Church- 
history, 103 

Restorers of classical literature, 100 

Revival of classical literature, 95 

Rose, Rev. Henry John, Translation 
of Neander, 207, note 1 

Rose, Rev. Hugh James, Lecture 
on Church-history, 196 ; Sermons 
on German Protestantism, 198 

Routh, Dr., Reliquiae Sacrae, 17, 
note 2 

Rufinus translates, and continues 
Eusebius, 21 

Rules of religious orders a source of 
Church-history, 232 

Sacharelli, Historia Ecclesiastica, 

184 
Salmon, F., quoted, 230, note 
Schmid, J. A., 171 
Schmidt, J. E. C, 205 
Scholasticism, 89 
Schrockh's opinion of the Centuri- 

ators, 115 ; of Arnold, 188; work 

on Church-history, 201 
Semler, Character of, 198 ; works 

on Church-history, 200 ; influence 

of, 200 
Sigebert of Gemblours, 79 
Simeon Metaphrastes, 83 
Socrates, Eccles. Hist, of, 28 
Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret, 

probably independent writers, 33 
Sources of Ecclesiastical history, 

importance of the study of, 215 ; 

either public or private, ibid. 
Sozomen, Eccles. Hist, of, 29 
Spanheim, F., 164 
Spittler, 203 
Spondanus continues the Eccles. 

Annals, 132 
Staudlin, his opinion of Arnold, 

190 ; work on Church -history, 206 



312 



INDEX. 



Sulpicius Severus, Sacred History Usuardus, Martvrology of, 77, note 
of, 23 2 



Tertullian, 10 

Theodoret, Account of, 31 ; Ec- 
cles. Hist, 32 

Theodorus Lector, Eccles. Hist. 
of, 45 ; compiles a Tripartite His- 
tory, 46 

Thomasius encourages and supports 
G. Arnold, 175 

Theophanes, Account of, 69 ; 
Chronographia, 70 

Tillemont, 152 

Tripartite History, 51 

Trithemius, Works of, 99 



Valla, Laurentius, 96 
Vestments a source of Church-his- 
tory, 243 

Walch, C. W. F., 197 
Walch, J. G, 197 
Warburton, Bp., Julian of, 195 
Waterland, 195 
Weismann, Chr. E., 191 
Wharton, H., 161 

Zacharias Rhetor, Eccles. Hist, 
of, 48 



THE END. 



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